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littp://www.arcliive.org/details/cliatsonoldjewellOOperciala 


CHATS  ON 
OLD   JEWELLERY 
AND  TRINKETS 


BCX)KS  FOR  COLLECTORS 

With  Coloured  Frontispieces  and  many  Illustrations. 
Large  Crown  Svo,  cloth. 

CHATS  ON  ENGLISH  CHINA. 

By  Arthur  Hayden. 

CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE. 
By  Arthur  Hayden. 

CHATS  ON  OLD  PRINTS. 
By  Arthur  Hayden. 

CHATS  ON  COSTUME. 

By  G.   WOOLLISCROFT  RHBAD. 

CHATS  ON  OLD  LACE  AND 
NEEDLEWORK. 
By  E.  L.  Lowes. 

CHATS  ON  ORIENTAL  CHINA. 
By  J.  F.  Blacker. 

CHATS  ON  MD^IATURES. 
By  J.  J.  Foster. 

CHATS  ON  ENGLISH  EARTHENVARE 
By  Arthur  Hayden. 

(Companion  Volume  to  "Chats  on  English  China.' 

CHATS  ON  AUTOGRAPHS. 

By  A.  M.  Broadley. 

CHATS  ON  OLD  PEVTER. 

By  H.  J.  L.  J.  Masse,  M.A. 

CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS. 

By  Fred  J.  Melville. 

CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY  AND 
TRINKETS. 
By  MacIver  Percival. 

LONDON  :    T.  FISHER  UNWIN. 
NEW  YORK :  F.  A.  STOKES  COMPANY. 


^HATS   ON 
OLD   JEWELLERY   AND 
TRINKETS 


BY 

MacIVER  /percival 


'J^ 


WITH   NEARLY  300  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 
FREDERICK   A,    STOKES  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


{All  rights  reserved.) 


PREFACE 


This  little  book  has  been  written  mainly  for  minor 
collectors — those  who  love  old  things,  but  cannot 
afford  to  pay  large  prices  for  them.  A  piece,  the 
possession  of  which  involves  the  writing  of  a  cheque 
for  three  figures,  is  definitely  out  of  their  reach ; 
even  two  figures  is  not  a  light  matter  to  them,  and 
they  prefer  to  pursue  their  hobby  in  those  less 
exalted  regions  where  ten  pounds  goes  a  long  way, 
and  quite  desirable  things  can  be  had  for  a  sovereign 
or  two.  Of  course  they  will  not,  at  their  price 
meet  with  things  of  the  kind  that  it  has  been 
the  aim  of  generations  of  collectors  to  add  to  their 
treasures.  It  is  highly  improbable,  for  instance,  that 
they  will  find  such  treasures  as  the  enamels  of  the 
sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries ; 
and  naturally,  pieces  set  with  fine  stones  will  not 
come  their  way.  But  that  should  not  deter  ,them 
from  starting  on  the  quest.  We  do  not  disdain 
coloured  prints  because  we  cannot  have  Holbein's 
paintings ;  and  if  Chippendale's  carved  mahogany 
chairs  are  out  of  reach,  do  we  not  find  beech  "  ladder- 
backs  "  very    picturesque  ?      So    when    we    cannot 


10  PREFACE 

afford  diamonds  let  us  collect  cut  steel ;  and  as 
painted  enamels  fetch  the  prices  they  do  at  auction 
sales,  we  will  be  happy  with  our  little  grisaille 
paintings  on  ivory  in  their  dainty  paste  mounts. 
However,  we  must  hasten  if  we  want  to  buy  them 
before  prices  mount,  otherwise  in  the  future  we  may 
mournfully  look  back  on  bygone  days  when  such 
things  could  be  bought  for  a  mere  song. 

The  field  is  a  wide  one  wherein  we  may  search. 
Treasure-trove  may  be  found  in  the  trinket-boxes 
of  old  ladies,  who,  having  grown  up  in  the  days 
when  "  solid  gold "  reigned  supreme,  do  not  value 
the  pretty  trifles  on  which  capable  craftsmen  of 
former  times  have  displayed  their  powers,  and  are 
quite  willing  to  part  with  them  to  those  who  do. 

Sometimes  a  find  is  made  among  the  oddments 
of  a  provincial  jeweller,  put  aside  to  be  broken  up 
for  the  gold  which  they  contain.  A  pawnbroker's 
in  Edinburgh  has  yielded  a  very  fine  Flemish 
pendant;  and  in  a  London  West  End  shop  a  charm-^ 
ing  eighteenth-century  buckle  has  been  bought  for 
a  few  shillings.  Even  of  more  splendid  things  the 
collector  must  not  despair  (though  being  over- 
sanguine  may  lead  him  into  the  toils  of  the  forger), 
and  he  should  keep  his  eyes  open,  and  know  all  he 
can  of  all  sides  of  his  subject,  so  as  to  be  ready  for 
any  chance  that  may  come  his  way.  Was  not  the 
••Tara"  brooch,  now  the  pride  of  the  Dublin 
Museum,  offered  to  a  metal  dealer  for  eighteen - 
pence — and  refused? 

It  is,  perhaps,  more  important  that  the  settings 
and  goldwork  of  a    piece   should  be  in  good  con- 


PREFACE  11 

dition  and  of  fine  workmanship,  than  that  all 
the  stones  should  be  in  place.  Of  course,  the  in- 
trinsic value  of  stones  may  be  considerable,  but 
they  can  be  replaced  ;  but  if  metal  work  and  (more 
particularly)  enamel  are  badly  damaged,  it  is  prac- 
tically impossible  to  make  them  good. 

However,  really  old  specimens  should  never  be 
consigned  to  the  melting-pot  without  due  thought, 
as  damaged  pieces  of  some  periods  are  more  valu- 
able than  perfect  ones  of  others,  by  reason  of  the 
scarcity  of  any  specimens  at  all. 

There  are  fortunate  people  who  have  no  need  to 
collect  old  jewellery,  as  they  are  lucky  enough  to 
have  had  forbears  who,  generation  by  generation, 
have  added  to  the  family  jewel-case  specimens  of 
each  new  fashion.  Thrice  happy  is  she  whose 
ancestors  have  been  content  with  "  adding "  and 
have  not  suffered  from  the  mania  for  "  resetting." 
I  hope  they  will  find  a  fresh  interest  in  their 
belongings  after  looking  through  this  volume,  and 
comparing  them  with  the  illustrations.  These  same 
illustrations  will,  I  trust,  prove  useful  to  students 
and  artist  jewellers,  who  may  find  inspiration  for 
their  work  in  the  study  of  the  masterpieces  of  the 
old-time  craftsmen. 

In  writing  this  book  I  have  not  adopted  entirely 
either  of  the  two  conventional  plans  for  such  works. 
That  is  to  say,  the  historical,  which  follows  the  whole 
art  in  its  progress  through  the  ages,  or  the  other, 
which  deals  with  each  class  of  ornament  in  a 
separate  chapter,  tracing  its  history  through  the 
different  periods. 


12  PREFACE 

The  scheme  actually  followed  includes  a  short 
historical  sketch  up  to  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  It  makes  no  pretence  to  being  complete, 
but  will,  I  hope,  be  found  to  contain  all  that  is 
necessary  to  lead  up  to  the  more  detailed  chapters, 
which  deal  with  eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth- 
century  work,  and  the  subjects  which  appeal  to 
the  minor  collectors,  for  whom  this  book  has  been 
written. 

In  this  miscellaneous  section  various  points  of 
view  have  been  taken ;  for  instance,  the  collector  of 
"  rings "  will  find  a  chapter  devoted  to  his  subject, 
while  the  specialist  in  a  particular  material,  such  as 
"  Pinchbeck,"  or  "  paste,"  has  not  been  forgotten. 
In  these  are  incorporated  the  notes  and  sketches 
which  have  been  collected  during  many  years  past, 
both  with  regard  to  pieces  which  I  or  my  friends 
possess,  and  those  which  have  specially  interested 
me  as  a  practical  jeweller  and  enameller. 

In  conclusion,  I  must  most  heartily  thank  those 
friends  who  have  kindly  allowed  me  to  photograph 
specimens  from  their  collections,  and  the  authorities 
of  the  British,  the  "  Victoria  and  Albert,"  and  the 
Birmingham  Museums,  both  for  permission  to  take 
original  photographs  and  also  to  reproduce  those 
officially  supplied.  My  gratitude  is  also  due  to 
Sir  George  Birdwood,C.S.I.,  Mr.  Rathbone  (London), 
Mr.  Mackay  (Birmingham),  Mr.  Beloc,  the  Queen 
newspaper,  and  the  Artcraftsman  for  permission 
to  use  photographs  and  other  material. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

PREFACE  .  .  .  .  .  '9 

GLOSSARY    ......  21 

CHAPTER 

I.  ANCIENT  JEWELLERY        .  .  .  -41 

II.  THE   MIDDLE  AGES     .  .  .  .69 

III.  FROM    THE    BEGINNING     OF    THE    RENAISSANCE 

TO   THE   END  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY      97 

IV.  THE   EIGHTEENTH   AND  NINETEENTH  CENTURIES    1 25 

V.  PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY  .  .  .  1 67 

VI.  ORIENTAL       JEWELLERY  :        INDIAN,       CHINESE, 

JAPANESE  .....    203 

VII.  BROOCHES      .  .  .  .227 

VIII.  RINGS       .  .  .  .  '      ,  .    255 

IX.        SHOE   BUCKLES  .  .  .  '2  73 

13 


14  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

X.  PAINTERS  AND  GOLDSMITHS         .  .  .    283 

XI.  DIAMONDS,  PRECIOUS  STONES,  AND  PEARLS   .  297 

XII.  CAMEOS   AND   INTAGLIOS  .  .  -315 

XIII.  PASTE  AND  OTHER  SUBSTITUTES  FOR   DIAMONDS  343 

XIV.  PINCHBECK    .  .  .  .  -357 
XV.       BOOKS      ......    369 

INDEX  .  .  .  -377 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


FULL-PAGE  PLATES 


BUCKLES 


EGYPTIAN  ORNAMENTS     . 

GREEK  AND  ETRUSCAN  GOLDWORK 

ROMAN  EAR-RINGS 

ROMAN  ORNAMENTS . 

BYZANTINE  BROOCH 

BYZANTINE  JEWELS    . 

TEUTONIC  JEWELS 

MEDI/EVAL  JEWELS     . 

RENAISSANCE  JEWELS       . 

RENAISSANCE  PENDANTS 

SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY  JEWELS 

SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY  JEWELS 

15 


Frontispiece 

PAGE 

43 

•  51 
59 

.  63 
69 

•  73 
79 

.  91 

99 
.  103 

115 
.  119 


16  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

EARLY  EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  ORNAMENT        .               .  127 

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  IN-MEMORIAM  JEWELLERY  .   I33 

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  CORSAGE  ORNAMENT  .               .  1 37 

MISCELLANEOUS   EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  ORNAMENTS  .    1 43 

NINETEENTH-CENTURY  JEWELLERY       .                              .  151 

CASTELLANI  PENDANT             .               .               .               .  .    163 

NORMAN-FRENCH   PENDANTS  AND  EAR-RINGS  1 73 

FLEMISH,  RUSSIAN,  AND  TURKISH  ORNAMENTS    .  .    177 

ITALIAN  PEARL- WORK  EAR-RINGS           .               .  181 

ADRIATIC  EAR-RINGS                .               .               .  .185 

NORWEGIAN  PEASANT  ORNAMENTS        .               .               .  l8g 

SWEDISH  AND  NORTH  GERMAN  PEASANT  ORNAMENTS  .    1 93 

ITALIAN  AND  SPANISH   PEASANT  ORNAMENTS                .  I97 

INDIAN  AND  PERSIAN  ORNAMENT   .               .  .205 

INDIAN  AND  BURMESE  EAR-RINGS  AND  NECKLACES.  213 

CHINESE  FEATHER  AND  PEARL- WORK          .               .  .219 

ANGLO-SAXON  AND  MEROVINGIAN   BROOCHES                .  235 

BROOCHES,  NORTHERN  COUNTRIES  AND  CELTIC  .  .   239 

MEDLEVAL  BROOCHES      .....  243 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  17 

PAGE 

EIGHTEENTH-  AND  NINETEENTH -CENTURY  BROOCHES     .  249 
RINGS  FROM  THE  NINTH  TO  THE  NINETEENTH-CENTURY  257 
SIXTEENTH-     AND     SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY      PENDANTS  289 
CAMEOS       .......  317 

WEDGWOOD  CAMEOS  .  .  .  .  .  .339 

CUT  STEEL  ......  353 

PINCHBECK       .......  359 

LINE-DRAWINGS   IN  TEXT 

EGYPTIAN  AMULETS          .               .               .  .               .24 

ROMAN   BULLA               .               .               .               .  .               .2$ 

GREEK  EAR-RING                                               .  .               .             54 

BYZANTINE  BROOCH   .                              .               .  .               .76 

VISIGOTHIC  CROWN  .               .             87 

PENDANT  BY  BROSAMER         .               .               .  .               .Ill 

PENDANT,  FROM   A  PAINTING  BY  MABUSE  .           II3 

SANTINI   ORNAMENT  .               .                              .  '    .               •     I23 

SEVENTEENTH-  OR  EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  WIOOCH   .           12$ 

ROCOCO  ORNAMENT    ,              .              .  .              .139 


18  LIST  OP  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

DESIGN  BY  POUGET-FILS  .  .  .147 

MINIATURE  FRAME  .....  148 

EMPIRE  COMB  .  .  ,  .  .  .156 

PINCHBECK  COMB  .  .  .  .  157 

NINETEENTH-CENTURY  EAR-RING    .  .  .  .159 

BAR-RING,   1840     ......  160 

LUCKENBOOTH   BROOCHES     .  .  .  .  .   170 

TURKISH  CLASP    ......  202 

JADE  PENDANT  ......  209 

NAIL-GUARD  ......  222 

JAPANESE  COMB  .  .  .  .  .  .222 

NETSUKE    .......  223 

EARLY  FORMS  OF  BROOCHES  .  .  .227 

EARLY  BROOCH  TYPES      .....  230 

PENANNULAR  PIN        ......   237 

SCOTCH  RING  BROOCH      .  .  .  .  .245 

GIRANDOLES    .  .  .  .  .  .247 

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY  BROOCH  .  .  .  •        25 1 

NINETEENTH-CENTURY  BROOCHES  .  .  .252 


LIST  OP  ILLUSTRATIONS  19 

PACK 

gold  brooch  ......  253 

ethelwulf's  ring        .....        261 

wedding-ring  .  .  .  .  •  .265 

gimmel  ring      ......        267 

decade  ring  .  .  .  .  .  .268 

giardinetti  rings       .....        268 

marquise  rings      ....*.  269 

episcopal  rings  .....        272 

archer's  ring         ......  272 

coloured  paste  buckle        ....        276 

paste  buckle  ......  277 

brass  buckle    .  .  .  .  .  .278 

mother-of-pearl  buckle  ....  279 

gold  buckle      ......        280 

jewel  in  picture  by  ghirlandajo       .  .  .287 

clasp  from  picture  by  mantegna  .  .  .        29i 

design  by  holbein .  .  .  .  .        '  .  292 

pendant  from  picture  by  roberti  .  .       294 

pendant  from  a  portrait  by  mabuse  .  295 


20  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

CLASP  FROM  A  PICTURE  BY  MASSYS      ...  296 

CABOCHON  STONES      ......  299 

TABLE-CUT,  STEP-CUT,  AND  TRAP-CUT  STONES  .  30O 

HOBNAIL  BRILLIANT  .  .  .  .  .  .  30I 

PEARLS       .......  310 

PASTE  BROOCH  .  .  .  .  .346 

DIAMOND  PASTE  ORNAMENT        ....  347 

MARCASITE  PENDANT  .....   349 


GLOSSARY 


GLOSSARY 

Acns. — A  pin.  This  term  is  used  for  Roman  hair- 
pins and  various  other  ornamental  kinds.  It  is  also 
used  in  speaking  of  the  pin  or  tongue  of  ancient 
brooches  or  buckles. 

Aiglets,  Aglets,  or  Aigulets. — These  are  little  tags 
or  sheaths  for  the  ends  of  ribbon,  used  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries.  Very  few  of  them  remain, 
and  specimens  are  interesting  and  valuable. 

Amulets  are  small  objects  to  which  magical  pro- 
perties were  attributed ;  they  were  often  Carried 
about  the  person  in  order  to  ward  off  evil  spirits 
(or  in  some  cases  attract  them). 

They  were  sometimes  ornamental  in  themselves,  or 
might  consist  of  inscriptions  on  cloth  or  parchment 
enclosed  in  cases,  plain  or  decorative. 

Egyptian  amulets  are  very  interesting.  There  were 
many  patterns,  which  were  worn  by  the  living  and 
buried  with  the  dead.  They  were  made  of  various 
materials  (stone,  metal,  and  faience  especially),  to 
which  magical  properties  were  ascribed.  They  were 
also  strung  between  beads  and  necklets. 

Amulets  were  much  worn  in  Etruscan  and  Roman 
times,  and  from  their  usual  form  (a  hollow  of  thin 


24 


GLOSSARY 


metal  containing  the  charm)  the  name  of  "  bulla  "  (a 
bubble)  was  given  to  them. 


Egyptian  Amulets. 

Girdle  of  Isis.    Assured  the  wearer  of  the  protecUou  of  the  holy  blood 

of  the  goddess. 
The  Heart. 
Snake's  Head.    Placed  in  tombs  to  prevent  the  deceased  being  bitten 

by  snakes  in  the  under-world. 
The  Pillow.    Typified  the  raising  up  and  preservation  of  the  head. 
Typified  the  strength  and  power  of  the  Eye  of  Horus. 
Human-headed  Hawk.    Ensured  to  the  deceased  the  power  of  uniting 

bis  body,  soul,  and  spirit  at  will. 
The  Papyrus  Sceptre. 

(From  the  Driiish  Museum  Guide,  by  kind  permission^ 


The    Anglo-Saxons   and   other    barbarian    tribes 
wore  crystal  balls  in  this  way. 

During  the  Middle  Ages  the  metals  were  dedicated 


GLOSSARY  25 

each  to  a  diflerent  planet,  and  in  the  case  of  a  metal 
amulet  the  sign  of  the  appropriate  planet  should 
be  engraved  on  it.  The  Sun's  metal  was  gold,  and 
silver  that  of  the  Moon. 

Aventurine  Glass. — A  brownish  glass  with  little 
glittering  flashes  in  it,  like  fragments  of  gold-leaf. 
The  method  of  making  it  used  to  be  a  trade  secret 
of  the  Venetians,  but  it  is  not  of  any  particular  value. 
It  is  sometimes  set  as  a  stone,  and  sometimes  used  in 
mosaic. 

Bristows,  or  Bristol  Diamonds. — A  kind  of  crystal. 

Bracelets  have  been  in  use  from  a  very  early  date, 
and  were  favourite  ornaments  in 
classical  times.  In  the  Middle  Ages 
they  were  very  uncommon  till  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  very  few 
specimens  of  Mediaeval  times  have 
survived.  This  may  be  accounted 
for  by  the  costume  being  fitted  with  „  „  .. 
long  sleeves,  which  rendered  it  un- 
suitable for  displaying  them.  During  the  Renais- 
sance they  came  more  into  fashion,  and  Cellini 
recounts  the  making  of  some.  In  the  seventeenth 
century  they  were  not  uncommon,  strings  of  pearls 
with  ornamented  clasps  being  thus  used.  During 
the  eighteenth  century  there  were  many  varieties 
of  them,  and  miniatures,  cameos,  Wedgwood 
plaques,  &c.,  mounted  as  clasps  on  a  black  velvet 
band,  were  a  favourite  form.  Charming  small 
buckles  were  also  used  to  fasten  bands  of  velvet 
on  the  arm,  and  these  were  often  worn  in  pairs. 

Bezel,  the  ornamental  face  of  a  ring. 


26  GLOSSARY 

Bracteates. — Very  thin  gold  copies  of  coins  or 
jewels,  which  were  buried  with  the  dead  by  the 
Greeks  and  other  nations  of  antiquity. 

Chains  have  been  used  from  early  times.  The 
loop-in-loop  pattern  was  introduced  about  four  thou- 
sand years  before  our  era  and  has  remained  in  use  to 
the  present  day.  In  its  simple  form  it  is  very  easy 
to  make  ;  as  each  link  is  soldered  before  the  chain 
is  interlinked,  there  is  thus  no  danger  of  the  previous 
join  giving  way  in  doing  a  subsequent  one.  It  is 
much  stronger  than  the  chains  which  merely  consist 
of  bent  wires  without  solder.  In  its  elaborated  forms 
it  is  know,  as  plaited,  or  Trichinopoly,  chain,  and 
these  require  both  dexterity  and  patience  to  make. 
Chains  were  a  great  feature  of  the  costume  in  later 
Mediaeval  and  Renaissance  times,  when  they  were  at 
once  an  ornament  and  a  bank.  A  link  or  a 
whole  chain  was  often  used  in  payment  for  a  pur- 
chase, or  as  a  gift.  They  were  sometimes  made  of  a 
pattern  resembling  our  modern  curb  chains,  but  were 
more  generally  of  the  broad,  flat  type  familiar  in 
portraits  of  Henry  VIII.  They  are  not  the  same 
thing  as,  or  substitutes  for,  the  necklet,  which  carried 
the  pendant,  but  were  a  separate  ornament  and  were 
often  worn  at  the  same  time.  About  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century  they  became  less  popu- 
lar as  independent  ornaments.  Very  many  pretty 
patterns  were  elaborated  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
especially  to  suspend  the  various  trifles  on  the 
chatelaines,  and  the  greatest  pains  were  expended 
in  diversifying  the  links.  Long  gold  chains  for 
wearing  round   the   neck   came   into  fashion  about 


GLOSSARY  27 

1830.  They  generally  had  a  swivel,  to  which  a  watch 
was  attached,  which  was  carried  tucked  into  the 
waistband.  These  long  chains  are  now  again 
fashionable,  and  old  ones  of  fairly  light  pattern 
are  sought  for. 

The  Cire  perdu,  or  waste  wax,  process,  was  intro- 
duced in  Egypt  during  the  Xllth  dynasty.  It  was 
in  use  for  the  enamelled  jewels  of  the  later  part  of  the 
Renaissance  period.  The  design  was  modelled  in 
wax,  round  which  the  substance  which  was  to  form 
the  mould  was  placed ;  the  wax  was  melted  away 
through  the  holes  left  for  air  passages,  thus  leaving 
the  space  free  for  the  molten  metal.  Only  one 
copy  of  any  particular  pattern  can  be  made  by  this 
process,  as  the  model  is  lost,  but  it  reproduces  the 
original  with  the  most  perfect  fidelity. 

Damascening. — Inlaid  work  of  gold  or  silver  on  an 
inferior  metal  (generally  steel  in  early  examples). 
The  following  quotation  from  Cellini's  Memoirs 
shows  the  use  damascening  was  put  to  in  Renaissance 
times. 

"  It  happened  about  this  time  that  certain  vases 
were  discovered,  which  appeared  to  be  antique  urns 
filled  with  ashes. 

"  Amongst  these  were  iron  rings  inlaid  with  gold. 
Learned  antiquarians,  upon  investigating  the  nature  of 
these  rings,  declared  that  they  were  worn  as  charms  by 
those  who  desired  to  behave  with  steadiness  and  reso- 
lution in  both  prosperous  and  adverse  circumstances. 
I  likewise  undertook  some  things  of  this  nature  at 
the  request  of  some  gentlemen  who  were  my  particular 
friends,  and  wrought  some  of  these  little  rings  ;  but  I 


28  GLOSSARY 

made  them  of  well -tempered  steel,  and  then  set  and 
inlaid  them  with  gold  so  that  they  were  very 
beautiful  to  behold.  Sometimes  for  a  ring  of  this 
sort  I  was  paid  about  forty  crowns." 

Enamel  may  be  defined  as  a  vitreous  glaze  fused  to 
its  base  by  heat.  As  used  in  connection  with 
jewellery  the  ground  is  always  of  metal,  but  it  may 
also  have  glass  or  pottery  as  a  foundation.  It  is 
applied  to  the  metal  in  the  form  of  a  powder 
moistened  with  water.  It  is  dried  and  placed  in 
a  furnace  heated  to  a  pale  orange  heat.  The 
particles  of  glass  melt  and  run  together  into  a 
smooth  coating.  This  process  is  repeated  till  the 
desired  thickness  is  obtained. 

Enamels  as  used  for  jewellery  are  : — 

Champlev^,  in  which  the  ground  is  removed,  leaving 
a  design,  or  walls  of  cells  standing  up  in  metal, 
between  which  the  enamel  is  placed. 

Cloisonnd,  in  which  the  walls  to  contain  the  enamel 
are  added,  in  the  form  of  thin  strips  of  metal. 

Basse  Taille,  in  which  the  design  is  carved  at  the 
bottom  of  a  sunk  space  and  shows  through  the 
transparent  coat  of  enamel. 

Plique  k  Jour,  a  kind  of  cloisonn6  without  a  metal 
ground. 

Filigree  Enamel,  in  which  the  containing  wires  are 
either  twisted  or  of  fancy  patterns,  and  the  surface  is 
not  ground  smooth. 

Painted  Enamels,  and  paintings  on  enamel  ground 
with  china  colours,  are  also  set  in  jewellery. 

Several  of  the  above  processes  are  often  used  in 
one  piece. 


GLOSSARY  ^ 

Forms  in  relief  coated  all  over  with  opaque  or 
translucent  colours  are  said  to  be  ornamented  with 
incrusted  enamel. 

This  art  was  well  known  to  the  Ancient  Britons, 
who  were  celebrated  for  their  work  before  the  coming 
of  the  Romans,  and  a  passage  is  often  quoted  as  a 
proof  of  this  from  Icones  of  Philostratus  (a  Greek 
sophist  at  the  court  of  Julia  Domna,  wife  of  the 
Emperor  Severus) : — 

"They  say  that  the  barbarians  who  live  in  the 
ocean  pour  these  colours  on  heated  brass,  and  that 
they  then  become  hard  as  stone,  and  preserve  the 
designs  that  are  made  upon  them." 

Byzantine  craftsmen  were  the  makers  of  numerous 
pieces,  both  large  and  small,  which  were  widely 
disseminated  through  Europe.  During  the  Middle 
Ages,  Limoges  was  a  centre  of  great  activity  in  this 
direction  (what  are  generally  known  as  "  Limoges  " 
Enamels,  but  which  had  much  better  be  called 
"  Painted  "  Enamels,  came  later). 

During  the  Renaissance  a  unique  class  of  modelled 
pendants  encrusted  with  enamels  was  made.  From 
this  zenith  the  use  of  enamel  dwindled  by  slow 
degrees  to  the  paltry  and  trivial  prettinesses  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  There  has  been  a  great  revival  of 
its  use  in  the  present  day  ;  but  to  those  who  love  the 
old  work  the  bestowal  of  the  title  on  the  coarse  blobs 
of  blue  and  green  sometimes  used  for  so-called  "Art " 
jewellery  seems  little  short  of  desecration.  However, 
there  is  a  proportion  of  excellent  work  done. 

Enseigne. — A  jewel  worn  in  the  hat,  that  was  very 
popular  during  the  Renaissance  period.     It  generally 


30  GLOSSARY 

had  some  kind  of  symbolical  or  emblematic  meaning, 
which  gave  it  a  personal  application  to  the  wearer. 
Enseignes  were  also  worn  by  ladies  in  the  hair.  They 
were  generally  circular  in  shape,  and  often  exquisitely 
jewelled  and  enamelled.  They  differed  from  brooches 
by  being  fastened  into  their  places  by  being  sewn, 
the  stitches  passing  through  added  loops  or  holes  in 
the  ornament.  Cellini's  account  of  "  enseignes  "  as 
made  in  his  day  is  most  interesting.  "  At  that  time 
a  sort  of  small  gold  medal  was  fashionable  upon 
which  it  was  customary  for  noblemen  and  gentlemen 
to  cause  to  be  engraved  certain  devices  and  fancies 
of  their  own,  and  they  commonly  wore  them  upon 
their  caps.  I  made  several  things  of  this  sort,  but 
found  such  works  very  difficult :  the  celebrated  artist 
Caradosso  would  not  take  less  than  a  hundred  crowns 
for  one  of  them,  because  they  contained  numerous 
figures.  I  was  therefore  employed  (not  so  much  on 
account  of  the  greatness  of  his  price  as  his  slowness 
in  working)  by  some  gentlemen  for  whom  I  made 
several  medals  in  emulation  of  this  renowned  artist, 
amongst  them  one  on  which  were  four  figures,  with 
which  I  took  uncommon  pains." 

Etui. — An  ornamental  case  for  implements  of 
needlework,  often  decorated  with  choice  goldwork, 
especially  during  the  eighteenth  century.  Good 
specimens  are  very  valuable,  but  were  much  copied 
in  the  Victorian  period. 

Fillet. — An  ornamental  band  worn  on  the  head 
to  confine  the  hair. 

Fibula  is  the  word  generally  used  in  archaeo- 
logical   books   for  brooches   of   early   manufacture, 


GLOSSARY  31 

particularly  those  of  the  safety-pin  and  other  early 
kinds. 

Fermailler. — The  makers  of  "  fermails,"  which  was 
a  general  title  for  clasps  and  other  fastenings. 

The  Fermaillers  had  a  corporation  at  Paris.  They 
were  a  most  important  class  of  workers  during  the 
Middle  Ages. 

Ferroni^re. — A  small  jewel  hanging  by  a  narrow 
ribbon,  so  arranged  that  the  ornament  comes  in  the 
middle  of  the  forehead.  So  called  from  the  picture 
in  the  Louvre  of  La  Belle  Ferroni^re  (The  Black- 
smith's wife).  It  was  first  worn  in  Renaissance  times, 
but  was  revived  in  the  early  nineteeth  century,  when 
a  small  locket  was  often  worn  thus  on  a  narrow  black 
velvet  ribbon  or  tiny  chain. 

Filigree  or  Filigrain. — A  method  of  ornament  by 
a  mixture  of  fine  twisted  wire  and  granulations. 
Most  usually  carried  out  in  gold,  but  silver  is 
also  used  by  Indian,  Norwegian,  and  other  peasant 
craftsmen. 

George. — The  name  given  to  the  jewel  of  the  Order 
of  the  Garter.  They  are  often  very  interesting,  and 
antique  ones  are  of  considerable  value.  There  are 
"  greater  "  and  "  lesser  "  Georges. 

Girdle  Hangers. — Objects  found  in  Anglo-Saxon 
graves,  which  are  generally  considered  to  be  the 
fastenings  of  a  bag  or  purse. 

Gold. — This  beautiful  metal  always  has  been  the 
one  most  used  for  jewellery,  partly  because  of 
its  rich  appearance,  partly  because  it  is  very  easily 
worked,  and  also  because  it  does  not  tarnish. 

It  is  not  often  used  pure.    The  reason  generally 


32  GLOSSARY 

given  for  alloying  it  is  that  it  is  too  soft  for  use  in 
its  natural  state ;  but  the  most  exquisite  ornaments 
ever  made,  in  two  widely  differing  styles — Greek  and 
Etruscan  work,  and  the  enamel  jewellery  of  the 
Renaissance — are  both  made  of  gold  which  is  of  a 
very  high  standard,  about  twenty-two  carats  as  a 
rule.  The  quality  of  gold  is  described  by  the 
expression,  "  so  many  carats,"  fine  or  pure  gold  being 
taken  as  twenty- four.  Thus  eighteen  carat  gold 
means  that  there  are  six  parts  of  alloy  to  eigh- 
teen of  gold  ;  twenty-two  carat  means  that  there 
are  only  two  of  alloy,  and  so  on.  Besides  the  alloys 
made  for  convenience  in  wear  and  working,  gold  is 
also  alloyed  with  various  metals  in  order  to  alter  the 
colour.  Fine  gold  is  an  exquisite  rich,  but  rather  pale, 
yellow  ;  alloyed  with  silver  in  a  small  proportion  (four 
to  ten  pennyweights  to  the  ounce)  it  has  a  greenish 
hue;  copper  (five  to  ten  pennyweights  to  the  ounce) 
gives  a  reddish  tint ;  the  addition  of  a  third  of  its 
weight  in  iron  forms  "  blue  gold  "  ;  and  when  alloyed 
with  silver  in  the  proportion  of  half  and  half,  "  white 
gold  "  is  the  result  The  usual  test  for  gold  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  base  metals  is  by  touching  with 
nitric  acid,  low  grade  golds  responding  to  a  certain 
degree,  but  fifteen  or  eighteen  carat  gold  not  being 
affected.  The  rule  as  to  hall-marking  precious 
metals  is  not  in  force  with  regard  to  gold  work 
set  with  precious  stones,  or  such  things  as  lockets, 
bracelets,  brooches,  and  chains,  so  that  it  is  often 
difficult  to  ascertain  the  exact  standard  of  gold 
used. 

The  process  known  as  colouring  gold  consists  in 


GLOSSARY  38 

the  removal  of  the  alloy  from  the  surface,  leaving 
only  a  thin  film  of  fine  gold  exposed  ;  this  soon  wears 
away  and  leaves  the  base  quality  of  metal  exposed, 
giving  a  very  tawdry  appearance.  Things  thus  dealt 
with  are  not  earlier  than  the  first  quarter  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Gilding,  however,  was  known  from 
very  early  times  and  often  has  worn  splendidly, 
silver-gilt  pieces  of  the  sixteenth  century  often  re- 
taining a  considerable  share  of  the  original  coating. 
The  value  of  fine  gold  in  small  quantities  is  four 
pounds  six  shillings  an  ounce,  and  decreases  a  few 
pence  for  larger  amounts. 

Granulations,  Beads,  or  Grains. — These  are  terms  used 
for  the  small  round  particles  or  balls  of  metal  which 
are  so  much  used  in  Greek  and  Etruscan  jewellery. 
It  might  be  thought  by  those  who  are  not  acquainted 
with  the  practical  side  of  the  goldsmith's  art  that 
they  are  moulded  or  stamped,  or  produced  otherwise 
by  mechanical  means,  but  they  are  the  result  of  the 
same  natural  law  which  causes  all  small  portions 
of  liquid  to  assume  a  spherical  form.  When  a  little 
bit  of  gold  or  other  metal  is  melted,  it  at  once,  what- 
ever its  previous  shape,  gathers  itself  up  into  a 
ball.  They  are  produced  in  quantities  by  submitting 
a  crucible  containing  a  mixture  of  pea-flour  or  ground 
charcoal  and  snippets  of  metal  to  a  heat  exceeding 
the  melting-point  of  the  latter. 

Gypci^res  were  small  pouches  which*  were  often 
fitted  with  metal  frames.  Though  hardly  jewellery 
in  the  ordinary  sense,  they  are  often  so  beautifully 
worked  that  mention   must  be  made  of  them  here. 

Hippocamp,  or  Hippocampus. — A  fabulous  beast  with 


34  GLOSSARY 

the  fore  part  of  a  horse  on  the  body  and  tail  of  a 
dolphin  or  other  fish.  This  monster  was  a  favourite 
subject  in  Renaissance  jewels,  the  idea  being  taken 
from  antique  sculpture. 

Millefiore  Glass. — A  patterned  glass  which  is  made 
in  a  very  curious  way.  Numerous  rods  are  arranged 
in  position  to  form  a  design,  then  they  are  partially 
melted  in  order  to  make  them  stick  together,  and 
also  to  soften  them  so  that  they  can  be  drawn  out. 
They  are  then  arranged  with  other  similar  rods,  but 
of  varying  patterns  so  as  to  show  the  complete  design. 
The  whole  is  then  heated  again,  and  after  being  drawn 
out  to  the  necessary  size,  cut  into  slices,  which  are 
to  be  found  set  as  pins,  pendants,  and  brooches. 
Any  one  who  has  seen  sugar-sticks  made  will 
recognise  it  as  the  same  process.  What  is  known 
as  "  millefiori  enamel "  may  not  improbably  consist 
of  pieces  of  such  glass  fused  into  position.  The 
process  is  chiefly  met  with  in  work  which  shows 
Roman  influence.  It  must  not  be  confused  with 
mosaic,  which  is  rather  like  it  in  appearance. 

Morse. — A  clasp  or  brooch  used  to  hold  a  cape 
together. 

Mosaic. — Florentine  mosaic  consists  of  small 
pieces  of  various  coloured  stones  inlaid  into  a  stone 
groundwork,  often  black.  Glass  mosaic  is  made  in 
Venice  and  Rome  of  the  minutest  fragments  of  glass. 
Some  of  the  pieces  are  so  fine  that  they  appear 
as  if  painted.  A  great  deal  of  this  mosaic  work  was 
very  delicately  set  in  filigree  mounts  about  1850  in 
Italy,  and  was  very  popular  in  England,  but  it  is 
now  quite  out  of  fashion.     It  is  not  old  or  interesting 


GLOSSARY  35 

enough  for  collectors,  and  the  designs  are  not  quaint 
enough  for  those  who  like  old  jewellery  to  wear. 
The  manufacture  is  still  continued,  and  tourists  often 
bring  pieces  home  as  souvenirs. 

Mosaic  Qold. — An  alloy  of  similar  composition  to 
brass  and  Pinchbeck.  It  is  practically  the  same  cis 
the  latter.  It  was  used  for  mounting  the  various 
mosaics,  cameos,  &c.,  so  much  worn  in  the  early 
nineteenth  century. 

Nef  Jewel. — An  ornament  in  the  form  of  a  ship. 
It  was  a  very  favourite  device  in  Renaissance  times. 
The  best  known  are  those  made  in  commemoration 
of  the  defeat  of  the  Armada  and  the  local  jewellery 
known  as  "  Adriatic." 

Niello. — A  metallic  composition  of  silver,  lead,  and 
sulphur.  It  has  been  in  use  from  the  earliest  times 
and  in  nearly  all  countries.  In  appearance  it  is  a 
black  substance,  somewhat  resembling  enamel,  but  it 
lacks  the  glassy  surface  and  has  a  faintly  metallic 
lustre.  It  is  still  much  used  in  Russia,  where  some 
very  pretty  pieces  of  jewellery  are  decorated  with 
it.  It  is  somewhat  more  easily  achieved  than 
enamel  and  wears  rather  better ;  so  other  points  being 
equal,  such  as  age,  desigjn,  &c.,  enamel  is  more 
valuable. 

An  interesting  account  of  how  it  was  applied  in 
the  Middle  Ages  is  given  by  Theophilus,  the  great 
monkish  craftsman,  "  For  laying  the  Nfello.  When 
you  have  mixed  and  melted  the  niello,  take  a  portion 
of  it  and  beat  it  square,  long  and  slender.  Then 
take  the  handle  with  the  pincers,  and  heat  it  in  the 
fire  until  it  glows,  and  with  another  forceps,  long  and 


36  GLOSSARY 

thin,  hold  the  niello  and  rub  it  over  all  the  places 
which  you  wish  to  make  black,  until  the  engraved 
designs  are  full,  and,  carrying  it  away  from  the  fire, 
carefully  make  it  smooth  with  a  flat  file,  until  the 
silver  appear  so  that  you  can  easily  observe  the 
pattern  and  scrape  it  with  the  cutting  iron,  carefully 
cutting  away  the  inequalities." 

Ouch,  Owche,  Nouche,  Nowche. — A  brooch  used 
for  fastening  a  garment  in  front.  The  term  belongs 
to  late  Mediaeval  times. 

Penannular  Pin  or  Brooch. — A  pin  with  a  ring  head, 
on  which  the  shaft  moves  round.  The  pin  is  pushed 
through  the  material  and  secured  by  a  half-turn.  The 
principal  specimens  are  of  Celtic  origin. 

Pomander. — A  perfume  case  hung  from  the  girdle. 
It  generally  consists  of  several  parts  hinged  together, 
each  containing  a  different  spice  or  scent.  They 
must  have  been  a  very  necessary  adjunct  to  the 
costume  in  times  when  the  sanitary  conditions  were 
absolutely  primitive.  There  was  also  a  form  known 
as  a  scent-ball,  which  consisted  of  the  perfumes 
worked  into  a  solid  mass,  into  which  the  jewelled 
ornaments  were  stuck.  The  idea  of  this  latter  may 
have  been  derived  from  the  Seville  orange  stuck  with 
cloves  and  used  to  scent  linen-chests,  a  plan  still 
followed  by  old-fashioned  housewives. 

Solder  is  used  for  joining  the  different  parts  of  metal 
jewellery  together.  It  is  an  alloy  of  metals,  com- 
posed as  a  rule  mainly  of  gold  or  silver  (whichever 
is  used  in  the  construction  of  the  object)  with  other 
more  fusible  components  added,  so  that  a  slightly 
less  degree  of  heat  is  required  to  melt  it  than  would 


GLOSSARY  37 

melt  or  damage  the  pieces  which  require  joining. 
For  example,  fine  or  pure  silver  may  be  soldered 
with  standard  silver  (which  is  mixed  with  alloy),  but 
to  solder  standard  silver,  extra  brass  should  be  added 
to  form  a  suitable  mixture  for  the  purpose.  The 
nearer  in  composition  the  solder  is  to  the  principal 
metal  the  better  the  join.  In  order  to  make  the 
solder  flow  along  the  joint,  a  flux  (generally  borax) 
has  to  be  used  with  it.  It  is  generally  supposed  that 
the  Greeks  possessed  some  secret  method  of  soldering 
which  has  been  lost,  as  otherwise  it  is  hard  to  account 
for  the  absence  of  any  perceptible  trace  of  it  in  their 
work  ;  but  we  must  take  into  consideration  the  fact 
that  they  were  perfect  workmen,  with  infinite  patience 
and  unlimited  time. 

The  following  quotation  from  Dr.  Henry  Schlie- 
mann's  "Mycenae"  is  very  interesting  as  bearing  on  the 
process  of  soldering  as  used  by  the  ancient  Greeks. 
"  While  speaking  of  soldering,  I  may  mention  that 
Professor  Landerer  informs  me  that  the  Mycenae 
goldsmiths  soldered  gold  with  the  help  of  borax  (borate 
of  soda)  which  is  still  used  at  the  present  day  for 
that  purpose."  He  adds  that  he  was  lucky  enough 
to  discover  this  salt  on  the  border  of  an  ancient  false 
medal  from  Algina,  that  it  was  called  in  antiquity 
"  gold  cement,"  and  that  it  was  imported  from  Persia 
and  India,  under  the  name  of  Baurac  Pounxa 
Tinkal.  In  the  Middle  Ages  it  was  -imported  by 
the  Venetians  from  Persia  to  Venice,  where  it  was 
purified  and  exported  under  the  denomination  of 
Borax  Venetus" 

Repousse  Work. — A  method  of  ornamenting  sheet 
3 


38  GLOSSARY 

metal  by  means  of  punches  and  other  tools.  Strictly 
speaking  it  is  only  "  Repouss6 "  when  the  raising 
comes  from  the  back  ;  work  from  the  front  is  chasing, 
but  the  term  is  very  generally  used  for  a  combination 
of  the  two. 

Rosary. — A  string  of  beads  for  counting  the  repeti- 
tion of  a  set  number  of  prayers,  each  ten  Aves  being 
preceded  by  a  large  bead  called  a  Paternoster. 
They  generally  had  a  large  bead  containing  a  relic 
or  a  crucifix  to  show  the  circuit  had  been  accom- 
plished. They  are  still  made  in  large  numbers.  As 
a  rule  they  are  not  so  sought  for  as  similar  work 
would  be  in  another  form,  because  either  as  curiosities 
or  personal  ornaments  collectors  prefer  things  having 
less  sacred  associations.  Rosary  rings  are  the  same 
thing  as  decade  rings  which  are  dealt  with  in  the 
special  chapter  on  rings. 

Sevign^. — A  breast  ornament  very  fashionable  in. 
the    seventeenth    century.     It   was  so  called    after 
Madame  de  Sevigne.     It  consists  of  an  open-work 
bow,  generally  set  with  small  diamonds,  and  often 
enamelled. 

Shot-work. — A  large  grain  mounted  in  the  middle 
of  a  silver  coil.  The  central  grain  catches  the  light 
with  a  bright  effect.  This  work  is  characteristic  of 
the  jewellery  of  many  countries,  being  found  as  far 
apart  as  India,  Scandinavia,  and  Italy. 

Bivet. — A  nail  without  a  point  which  is  used  to 
fasten  two  pieces  of  metal  together.  It  is  retained 
in  position  by  having  the  end  hammered  or  burnished 
down  to  enlarge  it,  so  that  it  cannot  go  back  through 
the  hole. 


GLOSSARY  39 

Tore,  or  Torque. — A  necklet,  probably  of  Eastern 
origin,  which  was  very  characteristic  of  Gaulish  tribes. 
It  was  a  national  emblem  of  the  Celtic  race, 
and  is  found  in  several  forms,  generally  a  flat 
plate  or  bar  bent  into  a  ring  or  twisted  on  itself. 
Tores  were  frequently  of  gold,  but  bronze  specimens 
are  more  usual.  Many  have  been  dug  up  in  various 
parts  of  the  British  Isles,  especially  in  Ireland. 
Unfortunately,  their  discoverers  being  ignorant  of 
their  antiquarian  interest,  they  have  often  been  sold  at 
the  price  of  the  gold  or  less,  and  consigned  to  the 
melting-pot. 

Verre  Eglomis^. — Glass  decorated  by  having  a 
design  worked  at  the  back  in  gold  and  colours. 
The  method  originally  employed  was  first  of 
all  to  cover  the  back  of  the  panel  with  gold  foil. 
Portions  of  this  were  removed  to  form  the  pattern, 
and  then  another  glass  was  melted  on  to  the  back. 
This  form  was  known  to  the  Christians  of  the  Cata- 
combs, and  remained  in  use  by  the  Byzantines  and 
through  the  Middle  Ages.  Later,  the  firing  of  the 
backing  glass  was  omitted,  in  order  to  allow  coloured 
varnishes  to  be  employed,  the  effect  of  which  was 
heightened  by  the  use  of  silver  foil. 

Wire. — Wire  as  now  used  is  formed  by  djrawing 
down  thin  ingots  of  metal  through  taper  holes 
in  a  metal  plate,  each  hole  being  smaller  than 
the  preceding  one,  till  the  wire  has  reached  the 
requisite  fineness.  The  apparatus  still  resembles 
in  its  essentials  that  used  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
It  consists  of  a  metal  plate  with  the  necessary 
holes  and  the  draw  bench,  fitted  with  a  vice  to  hold 


40  GLOSSARY 

the  plate  and  a  winch  to  reel  up  the  wire  as  it  is 
lengthened.  Small  quantities  are  drawn  through  by 
hand.  Hindoo  craftsmen  simplify  matters  to  the  ex- 
tent of  holding  the  plate  between  their  toes  while  they 
draw  the  wire  through  it  towards  them.  The  very 
early  wire  was  not  made  in  this  way,  but  consisted 
of  very  thin  strips  of  metal  cut  from  a  sheet  of 
suitable  thickness  and  rounded  as  required.  Beaded 
wire  has  been  in  use  from  very  early  times.  It  is  made 
with  tools  somewhat  akin  to  dies,  and  is  not  drawn  as 
ordinary  wire  is.  In  appearance  it  looks  like  a  string 
of  tiny  beads  or  granules.  The  process  of  making  it 
is  given  by  the  monk  Theophilus,  whose  writings  are 
a  store-house  of  information  as  to  the  methods 
employed  in  the  Middle  Ages. 


L    ANCIENT  JEWELLERY 

INTRODUCTION 

EGYPTIAN 

GREEK 

ETRUSCAN 

ROMAN 


EGYPTIAN 

1.  Ear-ring  with  several  beads  mounted  on  the  front. 

2.  Beads  of  blue  and  green  pottery. 

3.  Ring  with  bead  ornament. 

4.  A  very  pretty  pottery  bead  in  the  form  of  a  daisy  glazed  in  natural 

colours. 

5.  Hawk  which  has  lost  inlay,  showing  empty  cells. 

6.  Scarab  ring.     The  wire,  after  being  twisted  round  the  band,  passes 

through  the  enlarged  ends  and  the  scarab,  so  that  it  serves 
as  a  swivel  for  it  to  turn  on.  The  green  stone  scarab  is 
inscribed  with  four  uraei  and  four  cartouches  containing  the 
symbol  of  "life." 


43 


48 


CHAPTER   I 

INTRODUCTION— EGYPTIAN,  GREEK,  ETRUSCAN, 
ROMAN 

The  love  of  jewellery  is  very  deeply  rooted  in 
human  nature.  It  is  perhaps  difficult  to  decide 
whether  it  is  its  ornamental  side  or  its  symbolical 
character  which  has  usually  made  the  more  direct 
appeal.  Nowadays  it  is  generally  frankly  worn  for 
its  beauty,  except  such  things  as  medals  and  orders, 
civic  chains  and  masonic  and  ecclesiastical  jewels. 
In  former  times,  however,  a  very  large  proportion  of 
personal  ornaments  had  also  an  element  of  meaning. 
Sometimes  they  were  charms  to  ward  off  ill-luck,  or 
amulets  endowed  with  magic  powers.  Often  they 
were  insignia  of  rank,  or  had  a  religious  significance. 
But  whether  they  were  to  be  worn  simply  as 
ornaments  or  as  possessed  of  mystic  powers,  in 
almost  every  age  some  of  the  best  decorative'  art  of 
the  day  has  been  lavished  on  them.  Often  when 
household  furniture  and  other  things  that  we  now 
deem  necessities  of  existence  had  sunk  to  a  very 
low  standard,  the  jewellery  and  metal-work  were  still 
of  the  most  exquisite  character. 

Sometimes   the   makers   appear   to   have  derived 

46 


46         CHATS   ON   OLD  JEWELLERY 

their  inspiration  from  the  metal  itself ;  they  seem  to 
have  loved  its  colour,  its  ductility,  and  its  power  of 
granulation,  and  to  have  delighted  in  showing  off 
these  qualities  to  the  very  uttermost.  Such  work 
is  seen  in  Greek,  Etruscan,  Anglo-Saxon,  and  much 
Indian  jewellery. 

Sometimes  it  was  the  love  of  colour  which  moved 
them,  and  then  wonderful  harmonies  or  contrasts  in 
faience,  stones  or  enamel,  were  evolved,  such  as  we 
find  in  the  Egyptian,  Mediaeval,  and  Renaissance 
periods. 

At  other  times  it  was  the  desire  to  keep  some  much 
admired  or  cherished  object,  such  as  an  antique 
cameo  or  a  relic,  continually  on  the  person  that 
led  the  worker  to  expend  all  his  skill  in  making  a 
shrine  or  frame  worthy  of  the  little  treasure. 

Then  among  savage  peoples  we  find  a  desire  to 
attract  attention  to  different  parts  of  the  body,  and 
to  attain  this  object  any  glittering  or  brilliantly 
coloured  thing  is  rudely  set,  or  strung  on  a  necklace 
for  attachment  to  the  person.  Tinkling  and  jangling 
ornaments  of  roughly  fashioned  metal  are  also  used 
for  the  same  purpose. 

Nearly  every  nation  has  its  own  distinctive  style 
of  work.  In  some  countries  this  used  to  be  carried  so 
far  that  the  very  town  or  district  where  a  certain 
piece  had  its  origin  could  be  stated  with  a  fair 
degree  of  certainty  ;  but  the  fine  distinctions  involved 
would  be  of  very  little  interest  to  the  general  reader 
and  owner  of  jewellery. 

Always  among  the  remains  of  early  races  which 
have  come  down  to  us  have  been   found  curious 


EGYPTIAN  47 

ornaments  which  show  that  from  the  first  vanity  has 
had  its  place  in  human  nature.  But  often  these  are 
uncouth  and  hardly  beautiful  according  to  our  ideas, 
and  are  only  interesting  to  those  who  have  specialised 
in  such  things ;  so  in  this  book  they  are  not  dealt 
with,  as  they  do  not  come  in  the  way  of  the  general 
collector. 

We  will  leave  the  more  primitive  works  of  all 
countries  alone,  and  begin  with  the  Ancient 
Egyptians,  because  though  remote  in  point  of  time, 
their  tombs  have  yielded  such  a  rich  store  of 
treasures  that  the  aspect  of  their  ornaments  and 
jewellery  is  much  more  familiar  to  us  than  those 
which  were  made  at  some  periods  nearer  our  own. 

Often  they  appeal  to  us  as  being  more  beautiful 
and  suitable  for  our  own  use  than  seems  possible  when 
we  begin  to  reflect  that  they  were  made  thousands 
of  years  ago.  It  is  a  most  extraordinary  fact  that 
amongst  them  goldwork  is  found  which  not  only 
could  not  be  surpassed  at  the  present  day,  but  has 
rarely  been  equalled,  even  in  the  periods  when 
goldsmith's  work  was  the  craft  in  which  the  leading 
artistic  minds  found  expression.  Gold  was,  however, 
rather  scarce  in  ancient  Egypt,  and  was  chiefly  used 
for  the  ornaments  of  the  great,  and  for  small  things 
such  as  beads  and  signet-rings.  It  is  likely  that 
more  of  the  precious  metal  was  imported  into 
Egypt  than  came  from  local  mines.  ,  Some  would 
certainly  be  found  in  the  streams  and  rivers.  Notable 
among  the  goldwork  are  the  jewels  found  in  the 
tomb  of  Queen  Aah-hotep  (XVII  Ith  Dynasty).  There 
were  among  them  a  diadem  with  a  crouching  Sphinx, 


48         CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

a  marvellously  jewelled  brooch,  and  one  formed  of 
three  golden  bees,  also  a  wonderfully  wrought  chain. 

Perhaps  the  Egyptian  work  which  has  the  greatest 
interest  to  general  collectors  is  the  beadwork  and  the 
amulets  of  stone  and  earthenware,  which  probably 
formed  the  principal  ornaments  of  the  bulk  of  the 
people,  and  are  so  plentiful  in  some  kinds  that 
interesting  specimens  are  quite  inexpensive.  In  the 
best  period  it  is  noteworthy  that  each  bead  is  made 
for  its  own  place  in  the  general  scheme,  and  is  not 
merely  one  of  many  made  with  no  special  end  in 
view.  These  beads  of  pottery,  glazed  with  blue  or 
green,  were  made  of  very  varying  patterns,  not  only 
what  we  now  generally  term  "  beads,"  but  in  shapes 
somewhat  like  dumb-bells,  hawks,  shells,  &c.,  and 
hollow  gold  beads  were  interspersed  with  them. 

During  the  Xllth  Dynasty  a  fine  period  of  bead- 
work  began,  and  the  large  round  beads  are  almost 
sure  to  belong  to  this  period.  It  was  during  the 
XVIIIth  Dynasty  that  the  beadwork  reached  its 
highest  pitch  of  perfection,  and  many  other  colours 
were  added  to  those  originally  employed,  which  were 
shades  of  blue  and  green.  Many  new  patterns  were 
also  made,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  being  known 
of  the  little  pendants  and  ornaments  which  are  inter- 
spersed in  the  necklaces,  besides  ordinary  beads  and 
scarabs.  After  this,  glass  beads  were  introduced,  and 
by  Roman  times  were  the  kind  principally  used,  and 
many  thousand  beads  of  this  period  have  survived. 
Ivory  and  pottery  beads  were  also  made,  but  the 
glass  ones  are  more  interesting,  being  of  such  varied 
shapes  and  colours.     Some  of  them  were  made  on 


EGYPTIAN  49 

the  same  principal  as  the  millefiori  glass  (see 
Glossary),  and  others  were  curiously  striped  and 
spotted. 

The  jewellery  of  Egypt  has  another  interest  besides 
that  of  beauty  of  workmanship,  in  that  the  orna- 
mental devices  introduced  always  had  a  meaning. 
The  most  usual  of  these  was  the  beetle,  or  scarab, 
which  was  an  emblem  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead ; 
the  human-headed  hawk,  which  represented  the 
union  of  the  body,  soul  and  spirit,  and  the  heart. 
One  feels  that  colour  and  symbolism  were  the  leading 
motives  in  the  mind  of  these  Egyptian  workers,  and 
to  express  them  they  called  most  of  the  processes 
now  used  to  their  aid,  except  enamel  on  metal, 
which,  strange  to  say,  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
employed  till  quite  late  in  their  history,  though  they 
used  cells  exactly  similar  to  those  employed  in 
cloisonne  enamel,  filling  them  with  coloured  cement 
or  stones,  and  also,  strangely  enough,  used  a  vitreous 
glaze  fused  into  cells  of  stone  and  pottery.  Why 
they  did  not  hit  on  enamel  on  metal  is  a  mystery, 
but  no  early  piece  has  been  discovered,  and  the  pro- 
cess was  almost  certainly  introduced  by  the  Romans. 
However,  they  carried  the  art  of  inlaying  pieces  of 
glass  and  stone  into  cells  of  gold  to  the  utmost  pitch 
of  perfection,  fitting  the  fragments  of  materials  exactly 
to  the  contours  of  their  appointed  places  with  the 
utmost  skill.  M,  Fontenay,  who  was- familiar  with 
all  workshop  processes,  declares  that  nowadays  none 
but  the  very  cleverest  workman  could  hope  to  equal 
the  workmanship  of  these  pieces. 

They  also  did  granulated  work  very  beautifully. 


GREEK  AND   ETRUSCAN 

1.  Greek  pendaDt.     Fine  period. 

2.  Gold  disc  with  tube  at  back  ;   possibly  an  ear  ornament.     Early 

Etruscan. 

3.  A  Phoenician  ear-ring  from  Tharros. 

4.  Ornament  representing  a  thunderbolt.     Of  gold  set  with  glass. 

5.  Ornament  in  gold  with  fine  wire.     Ornamented  with  filigree  and 

loop-in-loop  hanging  chains.     Fine  period.     It  was  found  in 
Crete.     It  was  made  about  the  third  or  fourth  century  B.C. 

6.  Greek  necklace  (part  of). 

7.  Ear-ring  with  pendants.     Ornamented  in  twisted  wires,  granulated 

work,  beaded  -wire,  stones,  two  kinds  of  chains,  and  a  model 
of  a  vase.     Late  Etruscan. 

8.  Gold  fibula  with  meander  patterns  worked  in  fine  gold  beads  of 

extraordinary  minuteness.    Early  Etruscan. 


fiO 


51 


GREEK  53 

though  not  so  minutely  as  the  Etruscans ;  and  through 
the  Phoenicians  the  Greeks  probably  derived  the 
process  from  them. 

Greek  Jewellery. — Among  goldsmiths  and  jewellers 
the  Greeks  are  universally  acknowledged  to  hold  the 
front  rank.     In  looking  at  a  piece  of  their  work  one 
cannot  help  being  struck  by  the  mastery  over  the 
material    which    the    maker   must   have   possessed. 
If  it   is    simple,  one  feels  that   simplicity   was   the 
result   deliberately   aimed    at,  and   that    it    is    not 
caused  by  poverty  of  ideas  as  to  design  or  lack  of 
knowledge  of  the   craft     On   the  other  hand,  the 
most  elaborate  pieces  do  not  seem  overcrowded  or 
worried.     The  intricate  ornament   always  seems  to 
be  in  the  right  place  and  in  proportion  to  the  whole 
piece.     Their  delicacy  never  appears   thin  or  their 
rich   detail    heavy.     There  is  a  logical  sequence  in 
every  line.     Probably  the   workman    designed  each 
piece  as  it  grew  under  his  hands ;  he  knew  the  exact 
capabilities  of  the  material  and  the  purpose  the  work 
was  to  serve,  and  within  these  limits  he  accomplished 
(or  so  it  seems  to  us)  all  that  was  possible  in  the  way 
of  translating   beauty   into   gold.     The   very    early 
work  is  mainly  embossed,  either   by  the   repouss^ 
method  or  by  stamping.     Amongst  the  other  pro- 
cesses employed  later  are  engraving,  gem-cutting,  and 
above    all   delicate   filigree   work   which   has   never 
reached  the  same  degree  of  perfection  of  workman- 
ship and  design  as  in  their  hands.     It  is  this  extreme 
minuteness  of  the  work  that  at  first  may  strike  our 
sense  of  wonder  most  strongly,  but  after  all  it  is  the 
exquisite    delicacy    of    taste   which    is    really   most 


54 


CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 


marvellous.  It  is  not  found  only  in  the  pieces  which 
are  the  chefs-d'oeuvre  of  the  master  craftsmen,  but 
in  the  minor  things  which  are  so  numerous  that  they 
must  have  been  made  by  the  ordinary  working  gold- 
smiths. It  is  possible  that  the  minute  workmanship 
in  the  way  of  affixing  the  tiny  granules  and  wires 
may  have  been  the  result  of  some  knack  of  craftsman- 
ship which  has  been  lost,  though  we  know  that  in 
former  times  extraordinary  patience  was  shown  in 
carrying  out  works  of  art ;  and 
even  now  Orientals  spend  years 
in  making  pieces  of  lacquer  or 
needlework. 

The  chains  used  are  the  plaited 
loop-in-loop  kind,  arranged  in 
more  or  less  intricate  patterns, 
and  they  form  the  basis  of  most 
of  the  necklaces,  which  gener- 
ally consist  of  numerous  small 
pendants  hung  closely  along  such 
a  chain.  Those  ornaments  take 
various  forms,  such  as  amphorae, 
rosettes,  balls,  and  taper  shapes, 
all  ornamented  with  delicate  filigree  in  ever-varying 
designs.  Ear-rings  are  found  in  a  multitude  of 
delightful  patterns.  A  tiny  Eros  or  Cupid  is  a  very 
favourite  subject ;  amphorae  and  basket  shapes  are 
also  found  in  considerable  numbers.  These  ear-rings 
strike  the  keynote  of  movement,  and  their  swaying 
motion  must  have  given  to  the  wearer  an  effect  of 
extreme  elegance.  It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  recon- 
cile the   idea   of  ear-rings   at   all  with   the  general 


Greek  Ear-ring. 


GREEK  55 

conception  of  Greek  art,  as  they  always  seem  to 
have  something  barbaric  about  them,  involving  a 
mutilation  (though  it  is  only  a  slight  one)  of  the 
human  form.  However,  if  there  must  be  ear-rings, 
they  are  here  in  perfection. 

Rings  appear  to  have  been  mostly  used  as  a  con- 
venient way  of  carrying  the  signet  or  seal,  either  as 
an  intaglio  engraved  on  the  ring  itself,  or  on  a  gem 
mounted  in  it.  A  serpent  encircling  the  finger  was 
also  a  favourite  pattern.  Head  ornaments  consisted 
of  very  ornamental  coronals  or  wreaths,  very  likely 
used  only  for  special  occasions,  and  much  plainer 
bands  tapering  off  towards  the  back  and  with  some 
slight  ornamentation  at  the  widest  part  in  front. 

Specimens  of  fine  Greek  jewellery  are  of  course 
exceedingly  rare  in  private  collections,  though  occa- 
sionally a  piece  is  offered  for  sale  at  a  high  price. 

The  very  early  Greek  jewellery  such  as  was  found 
at  Mycenae  is  practically  all  preserved  in  museums 
for  the  purpose  of  study,  and  is  unattainable  by 
private  collectors.  It  is  almost  all  worked  in  re- 
pouss^,  or  stamped  on  very  thin  gold  sheets.  They 
had  a  curious  way  of  embossing  the  metal  used  for 
making  buttons  and  such  things.  The  design  was 
carved  on  wood  and  covered  by  the  gold,  which  was 
fastened  behind.  Pressure  was  then  applied  to  the 
metal,  which  being  thin,  sank  into  the  grooves  of  the 
wood,  so  that  the  pattern  showed  through  into  the 
face.  This  dififers  from  ordinary  stamped  work,  as 
the  matrix  remains  permanently  in  place  to  support 
the  work.  Favourite  objects  represented  are  octapods 
(sepias),  butterflies,  rosettes,  leaf  forms,  and  above  all 


56         CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

scrolls  and  spirals  of  marvellous  beauty,  which  at 
once  remind  us  of  the  work  of  the  Irish  manuscripts 
two  thousand  years  or  more  later. 

Etruscan  Jewellery. — The  Etruscans  inhabited,  it  will 
be  remembered,  a  State  of  Central  Italy,  which  was 
often  at  war  with  Rome,  with  varying  success,  till 
it  was  finally  conquered  and  its  power  merged  in 
that  of  Rome,  in  B.C.  282.  They  are  particularly 
noted  for  their  goldwork.  Much  has  been  recovered 
from  sepulchres  which  are  found  here  and  there  in 
various  parts  of  the  country.  Unfortunately,  only 
too  often  those  who  seek  these  tombs  in  order  to 
preserve  their  contents  safely  in  museums,  where 
they  can  be  studied,  find  that  others  have  been 
before  them,  and  that  only  a  few  scraps  have  been 
left,  and  that  treasures  of  great  artistic  value  have 
been  most  probably  melted  down  for  the  sake  of 
a  few  pounds'  worth  of  gold.  The  general  character 
of  the  Etruscan  jewellery  resembles  that  of  the 
Greeks.  Three  periods  are  noted.  The  first,  which 
is  discovered  in  the  most  ancient  tombs,  bears  traces 
of  some  influence  which  would  seem  to  show  a  kin- 
ship to,  or  at  least  aquaintance  with,  Egyptian  art. 
The  second,  in  which  Greek  influence  clearly  pre- 
dominates, and  a  perfect  technique  is  wedded  to 
artistic  design  ;  and  a  third  period  of  decline.  The 
main  point  in  which  the  technique  of  the  pure 
Etruscan  kind  differs  from  that  of  the  Greeks  is  that 
lines,  instead  of  being  wrought  in  twisted  wire  (fili- 
gree) are  carried  out  by  means  of  rows  of  granula- 
tions, each  tiny  bead  touching  its  neighbour.  These 
bead  lines  disappeared  under  Grecian  influence.    The 


ETRUSCAN  57 

Etruscans  introduced  scarabs  into  their  work  ;  either 
originals  from  Egypt,  the  home  of  the  scarab,  or  copies. 
The  enamel  used  is  all  cloisonn6,  and  it  and 
repoussd  work  are  frequent  methods  of  ornamenta- 
tion. It  was  from  the  Etruscans  that  the  Romans 
learned  to  attach  so  much  importance  to  rings, 
which  were  objects  of  peculiar  significance  among 
them.  They  had  the  custom  of  using  the  ring  for 
betrothals,  and  also  as  a  signet.  Some  of  the  finest 
objects  of  Etruscan  art  are  wreaths  for  the  head. 
There  are  several  in  the  Vatican  which  are  made  of 
the  leaves  of  the  oak,  ivy,  myrtle,  and  laurel  in  gold, 
enamelled  in  natural  colours.  In  the  Louvre  there 
is  a  particularly  pretty  one  of  daisies  mounted  on 
spring  wires. 

Genuine  pieces  of  fine  workmanship,  whether  Greek 
or  Etruscan,  very  rarely  come  into  the  market  and 
always  command  a  high  price.  They  are  both 
perfect  examples  of  exquisite  craftsmanship,  and 
also  possess  extreme  antiquarian  interest. 

Beautiful  copies  were  made  in  the  early  nineteenth 
century.  Others  of  less  delicate  work  are  still  made, 
but  they  seem  to  lack  somewhat  of  the  dainty  grace 
which  underlies  the  classic  beauty  of  the  originals. 
They  are  mostly  much  more  massive,  and  are  made 
of  eighteen  carat  gold  instead  of  the  twenty-tWo  or 
even  finer  metal,  used  generally  by  the  old  workers. 
I  do  not  think  the  copyists  ever  attempt  the  pure 
granular  Etruscan  work ;  it  is  mostly  a  few 
stereotyped  patterns  in  twisted  wire  or  filigree. 
There  are  also  many  actual  forgeries  calculated 
to  deceive  the  very  elect. 

4 


ROMAN 

1 .  Portion  of  a  gold  ear-ring. 

2.  Gold  ear-ring  of  pierced  gold. 

3.  Roman  ear-rings  of  pierced  work,  with  emerald  matrix  drops. 

4.  Ear-ring   of  gold.     The   bow  is   of  corded   pattern,  to  which  is 

attached  a  crescent-shaped  yoke  of  three  pendants,  set  with 
cabochons  of  emeralds  and  ruby,  and  three  jacinth  drops. 
Ancient  Roman. 

5.  Gold  ear-ring,  set  in  the  centre  with  a  hexagonal  emerald  bead. 

Ancient  Roman. 

6.  Ear-ring  of  plain  gold  wire.    Attached   is  a  yoke  and  two  wire 

pendants  with  pearl  beads  on  the  ends.     Ancient  Roman. 


66 


59 


ROMAN  61 

Boman  Jewellery. — Roman  jewellery  is  most  clearly 
a  child  of  the  Etruscan  and  Greek  styles.  First  one 
of  these  races  then  the  other  yielded  to  the  might  of 
the  Roman  arms.  The  conquerors  were  always  ready 
to  take  advantage  of  any  gift  possessed  by  those 
whom  they  subdued,  and  their  goldwork  shows  its 
origin  very  plainly.  The  earlier  Roman  jewellery 
seems  to  be  derived  from  the  Etruscan,  though  con- 
siderably altered  in  course  of  time,  and  later  they 
brought  Greek  artists  and  workmen  to  Rome,  who 
carried  on  their  crafts,  and  instructed  the  Roman 
workmen  in  gem-cutting  and  other  branches  in  which 
they  excelled,  thus  giving  these  arts  a  fresh  stimulus. 
Like  the  Athenians,  the  Romans  constantly  desired 
some  new  thing,  and  when  the  victories  of  Pompey 
were  the  means  of  introducing  the  fashion  of  splendid 
carved  gems,  it  was  followed  with  an  enthusiasm 
almost  amounting  to  madness  ;  and  later,  as  de  Baye 
points  out,  the  art  of  the  Barbarians  was  not  without 
its  influence.  He  quotes  from  the  poet  Corippus, 
who  describes  the  dress  of  Justinus  II.  "A  purple 
robe,  flowing  from  the  shoulders,  drapes  the  person  of 
CiEsar.  It  is  fastened  by  a  fibula,  the  chains  of 
which  are  glittering  with  precious  stones,  a  trophy 
of  his  victory  over  the  Goths."  We  find  this  Icve  of 
gorgeousness  frequently  reiterated  in  Roman  history, 
and  many  instances  are  mentioned — for  instance, 
Servilia,  the  mother  of  Brutus,  received  as  a  gift  from 
Julius  Caesar  a  pearl  valued  at  fifty  thousand  pounds ; 
and  Cleopatra's  ear-rings  alone  were  valued  at  one 
hundred  and  sixty-one  thousand,  four  hundred  and 
fifty-seven  pounds  of  our  money.     Lollia  Paulina,  the 


ANCIENT  ROMAN 

1.  Bracelet  in  the  form  of  a  two-headed  serpent.     Gold. 

2.  Ear-ring  with  three  hanging  loop-in-loop  chains,  each  furnished 

with  an  amethyst  bead. 


62 


63 


ROMAN  65 

wife  of  the  Emperor  Caligula,  adorned  herself  for  an 
ordinary  betrothal  feast  with  emeralds  and  pearls 
worth  nearly  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pounds.  This  extraordinary  extravagance  is  noted 
again  and  again,  and  we  find  that  nearly  a  quarter  of 
a  million  of  our  money  was  given  for  a  single  piece 
of  jewellery.  These  large  figures  would  of  course 
refer  to  splendid  gems  and  pearls,  more  than  artistic 
goldwork.  After  these  historical  accounts  of  sense- 
less ostentation,  it  is  pleasant  to  turn  to  those 
unwritten  documents  which  tell  of  earlier  times  and 
of  those  less  ostentatious  pieces  which  were  the 
ornaments  of  the  bulk  of  the  populace.  These  show 
us  that  while  among  the  very  rich  of  certain  periods 
preposterously  expensive  ornaments  were  the  vogue, 
there  was  also  a  style  of  Roman  jewellery  which, 
while  lacking  the  daintiness  and  exquisite  taste 
that  marks  the  simplest  piece  of  Greek  workman- 
ship, yet  has  the  charm  of  varied  colour,  wanting 
to  a  certain  extent  in  Greek  jewellery.  This  taste 
was  satisfied  in  the  richer  classes  by  emeralds, 
sapphires,  and  other  gems ;  and  the  lower  orders 
supplied  it  by  means  of  amber,  amethysts,  and  other 
cheap  stones,  and  especially  by  beautifully  tinted 
glass.  "The  glass  gems  of  the  populace,"  as  Pliny 
calls  these  last,  may  have  been  held  in  contehipt  by 
those  who  had  the  real  thing,  but  they  are  very 
beautiful  all  the  same. 

Coronets  and  crowns  of  gold  and  gems  were  much 
favoured.  Necklaces  were  generally  of  pearls  or 
beads,  with  cameos  or  coins  interspersed  here  and 
there.     Rings  were  of  great  importance  and   mag- 


66         CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWEULERY 

nificence.  Under  Tiberius  they  were  a  sign  of  rank  ; 
those  who  wore  them  were  legally  supposed  to  be 
descended  from  three  generations  of  free  men.  But 
this  rule  could  not  be  maintained,  and  it  was  relaxed 
till  it  stood  that  only  a  freeborn  Roman  might  wear 
a  gold  ring.  But  even  in  this  form  it  was  not  carried 
out  stringently,  and  those  who  were  inclined  to  evade 
it  had  their  iron  and  silver  rings  coated  with  gold. 
Among  the  most  successful  of  the  simpler  Roman 
jewels  were  the  ear-rings ;  they  are  somewhat  heavy 
in  their  proportions,  but  the  earlier  ones  still 
generally  emphasised  the  swinging  movement  which 
is  such  a  delightful  feature  in  Greek  ear-rings,  by 
being  hinged  together  in  several  parts  or  hung  with 
chains.  Towards  the  end  of  the  Empire  they,  like 
other  jewellery,  became  heavy  and  ugly. 

Perhaps  of  principal  interest  to  all  of  us  are  the 
remains  of  the  Roman  occupation  of  Britain,  which 
are  found  in  considerable  numbers  on  sites  which 
were  inhabited  by  them,  or  used  as  camps.  These 
are  generally  of  the  plainer  kind,  but  many  are 
enriched  with  enamel  which  was  adopted  by  the 
Romans  to  a  very  marked  extent.  It  is  thought 
to  have  been  a  British  invention :  at  any  rate,  it 
was  not  known  to  the  Romans  in  early  times,  though 
the  Greeks  used  the  cloisonne  process  a  little,  but 
in  quite  a  different  way  to  the  massive  effect  of 
Romano-British  work.  The  Romans  were  very 
clever  glass-workers,  and  as  noted  above  made 
beautiful  beads  and  pastes.  They  also  made  rings 
and  amulets  of  this  substance,  of  which  the  very 
flaws   and   slight   imperfections    seemed    an    added 


ROMAN  67 

beauty.  Millefiori  glass  was  also  used  in  sections 
to  set  in  rings  and  brooches.  Numbers  of  bronze 
fibulse  of  the  Roman  period  have  been  discovered 
in  Britain.  They  are  now  dull  and  covered  with 
verdigris,  but  when  new  and  of  a  rich  gold-like 
colour  they  must  have  had  a  very  different  appear- 
ance. The  interest  of  specimens  is  greatly  enhanced 
if  one  knows  exactly  where  they  were  found  and 
the  exact  character  of  the  remains  discovered  with 
them,  which  should  always  be  ascertained  and  noted 
on  a  label  attached  to  the  piece.  Without  these 
particulars,  unless  the  workmanship  is  out  of  the 
common,  their  importance  is  very  slight. 


BYZANTINE 

Brooch,  probably  German  work  of  the  eleventh  century,  set  with 
Byzantine  enamels,  which  were  made  in  plaques  of  small  size 
for  such  purposes. 


68 


II.    THE    MIDDLE    AGES 

BYZANTINE 
BARBARIAN 
LATER    MEDIEVAL 
CELTIC 


CHAPTER   II 

THE  MIDDLE  AGES 

The  term  "  Middle  Ages  "  is  generally  applied  to 
the  period  from  A.D.  476  to  1494,  and  was  a  time 
when  the  remains  of  classic  art,  the  fresh  inspiration 
of  Christianity,  and  the  new  influences  spread  over 
Europe  by  the  Teutonic  invaders,  were  all  at  work. 
It  will  be  convenient  to  deal  separately  with  the 
differing  types  of  jewellery  which  existed  side  by 
side,  including  the  lingering  remains  of  the  earliest 
art  of  the  Celts.  The  Byzantine  and  the  Teutonic 
combined  to  form  the  later  Mediaeval  style,  which 
paved  the  way  for  the  glorious  jewellery  of  the 
Renaissance  period. 

By2ajitme  Jewellery — The  Byzantine  Empire  lasted 
from  the  fourth  century  till  the  city  was  captured 
by  the  Turks  in  1453;  from  the  fifth  century  to 
the  eleventh  century  it  led  Europe  in  all  the  arts 
of  civilisation.  But  in  art,  from  the  twelfth  century 
onwards,  the  universal  adherence  to  'a  rigid  con- 
vention killed  any  real  growth.  This  later  type  of 
design  (which  has  endured  till  now  in  the  art  of  the 
Greek  Church)  is  what  is  generally  thought  of  as 
Byzantine    Art,   because  many    more   things   which 

Tl 


BYZANTINE 

An  enamel  plaque  of  Italian  workmanship  showing  Byzantine 
influence. 

An  enamelled  pendant.  This  is  Russian  work,  but  it  shows  the 
strong  influence  which  the  Byzantine  style  exercised  over 
the  art  of  that  country,  which,  in  fact,  still  persists.  The 
same  style  is  shown  in  the  pendant  of  Russian  workmanship 
of  the  fourteenth  or  fifteenth  century,  shown  in  Illustration  4. 

Byzantine  ear-ring  ornamented  with  birds  in  cloisonne  enamel 
and  arrangements  of  grains.  The  pearls,  of  which  only  a  few 
remain,  are  fixed  by  a  centre  pin. 

Byzantine  ear-ring  of  filigree-work,  decorated  with  beads  strung  on 
wire. 


72 


73 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES  75 

date  from  this  time  have  survived  than  have  come 
down  to  us  from  the  Golden  Age.  There  is,  there- 
fore, a  danger  of  the  earlier  work,  which  was  in 
many  ways  very  beautiful,  and  is  certainly  very 
interesting,  being  overlooked. 

In  jewellery,  as  in  other  branches  of  art  in  the 
earliest  part  of  the  period,  we  shall  find  the 
classical  feeling  struggling,  as  it  were,  against 
the  inrush  of  Oriental  influences,  but  the  latter 
soon  became  predominant.  With  the  ever-increasing 
trade  with  the  East  came  the  knowledge  of  the 
magnificence  of  Oriental  decoration.  The  greater 
ease  with  which  precious  stones  could  be  pro- 
cured caused  them  to  be  used  in  far  greater  pro- 
fusion, and  splendour  of  colour  became  the  keynote 
rather  than  the  delicate  severity  which  was  the 
leading  spirit  of  the  best  Greek  work.  The  love  of 
colour  found  a  congenial  sphere  in  enamel.  The 
earliest  pieces  in  the  distinctly  Byzantine  style  prob- 
ably go  no  farther  back  than  the  sixth  century, 
and  it  was  not  till  after  the  close  of  the  iconoclastic 
period  (during  which  all  pictures  and  images  were 
ordered  to  be  destroyed)  that  it  reached  its  perfec- 
tion. When  Basil  took  the  reins  of  government  in 
the  ninth  century,  industry,  trade,  and  art  received 
an  impetus  whose  effects  lasted  nearly  three  hundred 
years,  and  with  the  rest  enamelling  flourished.  This 
enamel  is  mainly  cloisonne,  and  is  quite  different 
from  Romano-British  work,  which  was  somewhat 
heavy  and  of  the  champlev^  variety.  The  art  was 
probably  reintroduced  independently  from  Persia, 
but  this  is  not  known  for  certain,  though  it  is  thought 


76         CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

that  a  Persian  type  of  design  can  be  traced  in  all 
the  earliest  pieces.  The  cells  are  made  of  very  thin 
gold  strips,  and  the  ground  was  also  of  fine  sheet 
gold.  The  enamel  was  generally,  though  not  in- 
variably, translucent.  At  first  it  could  only  be  made 
in  very  small  pieces,  and  these  were  distributed 
widely  over  Europe,  and  were  set  in  metal  work  by 
the  goldsmiths  of  other  nations,  and  also  sewn  on 
to  woven  material  for  vestments,  in  the  same  way 
that  stones  in  gold  mounts  were  used.  They  were 
also  set  in  brooches  and  other  jewellery  just  as  if 
they  were  gems,  and  thus  used  have 
a  very  beautiful  effect.  Later,  larger 
pieces  were  made  as  well,  but  these 
of  course  were  used  for  book-covers, 
altars,  and  so  on,  not  for  personal 
adornment.  The  richness  of  the  gem- 
work  of  this  time  can  be  studied  in 
Byzantine  Brooch  the  contemporary  mosaics  and  ivories, 
at°Rave^nna°'^'''  such  as  the  portraits  of  the  Emperor 
Justinian  and  the  Empress  Theodora 
in  the  Church  of  San  Vitale  at  Ravenna,  which  are 
rendered  gorgeous  by  the  profusion  of  jewellery 
set  with  real  stones  and  pearls.  Round  the  neck 
was  worn  a  rich  necklace  with  large  hanging 
stones  ;  pear-shaped  drops  also  hung  over  the 
ears  from  the  diadem  and  decked  the  robe.  Con- 
temporary writings  are  full  of  references  to  the 
magnificence  of  the  jewellery  of  this  time.  It  was, 
no  doubt,  with  a  view  to  combating  the  almost 
overwhelming  inrush  of  Oriental  ideas  that  the 
Church    formulated    those    formal   rules   of  art   for 


THE   MIDDLE   AGES  77 

designers,  which  have  done  so  much  to  crystallise 
the  style  of  Byzantine  figure  work  into  grotesque 
stiffness,  and  barred  all  advance  by  prohibiting  any 
direct  appeal  to  nature. 

Niello  work  was  much  used  in  decorating  gold 
and  silver,  especially  rings.  The  art  of  cameo 
cutting  was  also  largely  practised,  but  in  quite  a 
different  style  to  the  Graeco-Roman  which  preceded 
it,  and  which  was  far  superior  both  in  design  and 
technique.  A  characteristic  way  of  mounting  pearls 
was  on  wires,  which  were  held  in  place  by  loops  at 
intervals.  Charming  filigree  work  was  still  pro- 
duced, though  of  a  much  coarser  kind  than  Greek 
and  Etruscan  work. 

To  sum  up  :  in  studying  Byzantine  jewellery  we 
shall  find  the  principal  interest  lies  not  in  its  per- 
fection of  workmanship,  nor  even  in  its  beauty 
(though  both  may  be  found  in  individual  pieces), 
but  in  tracing  out  the  influences  which  united  to 
form  a  style  which,  in  spite  of  its  numerous  and 
manifest  shortcomings,  has  held  its  place  for  nearly 
a  thousand  years  as  the  official  art  of  one  of  the 
great  Churches  of  Christendom. 

Barbarian  Jewellery.  —  With  the  decline  of  the 
power  of  the  Roman  Empire  before  the  attacks  of 
its  numerous  enemies  on  all  sides,  there  also 'passed 
out  of  use  in  a  great  part  of  Europe  that  special 
type  of  art  which  had  spread  to  all  the  countries 
over  which  Rome  ruled,  and  quite  another  kind  took 
its  place. 

The  Romans  called  the  other  nations  "  Barbarians," 
and   affected   to   consider  them   utterly  uncivilised  ; 


TEUTONIC 

I  and  2.     A  Merovingian  brooch  of  bronze  with  a  gold  face  ornamented 
with  pastes  and  filigree. 

3.  I'art  of  a   buckle.     A  gold   plaque  set   with  garnets  and 

ornamented  with  filigree-work.     Anglo-Saxon. 

4.  Late   Anglo-Saxon   work.      The   Alfred  jewel,   a.d.    878. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  historical  relics.  There 
is  every  probability  that  not  only  did  it  belong  actually 
to  Alfred,  but  that  it  was  made  under  his  direct  super- 
vision. The  decoration  in  grainwork  and  filigree  is 
particularly  happy. 

5.  Small  pendant  of  a  necklace  which  shows  the  typical  inlaid 

garnet-work.    The  light  stones  are  turquoises. 

6.  Part  of  a  buckle  with  very  fine  filigree  wirework.     Anglo- 

Saxon. 

7.  A  necklace  of  beads  and  coins.     The  coins  are  of  Mauricius 

(582-602)  and  Ileraclius  (610-641),  Emperors  of  the 
East,  and  Chlotaire  II.  of  France  (618-628).  The 
centre  pendant  is  set  with  millefiori  glass. 


78 


79 


THE   MIDDLE  AGES  81 

yet  these  peoples  possessed  arts  which  are  certainly 
worthy  of  our  careful  study,  and  the  more  we  know 
of  them  the  more  they  will  be  admired. 

Their  jewellery  is  most  interesting  and  surprisingly 
beautiful.  The  special  type  characteristic  of  the 
Teutonic  invaders  is  known  as  "  Inlaid  Jewellery," 
This  method  of  ornamentation  differs  from  other 
ways  of  using  stones,  in  that  instead  of  the  gems 
being  fixed  individually  in  a  setting  which  is 
burnished  or  bent  over  to  keep  them  in  place, 
the  pieces  are  ground  flat  and  each  fastened,  by 
cement  or  otherwise,  into  a  compartment,  or  else 
cemented  into  holes  pierced  in  sheet  metal. 
These  two  kinds  are  known  respectively  as 
"cloisonn6"  and  "plate"  inlaying.  The  effect  aimed 
at  appears  to  be  one  of  rich,  flat  colour, 
approaching  that  of  mosaic  or  cloisonne  enamel, 
rather  than  the  separate  points  of  coloured  light 
which  are  obtained  by  gems  cut  and  set  in  the  usual 
way.  The  distinction  was  evidently  quite  clear  to 
the  workers,  because  we  frequently  find  that  the 
gorgeous  inlaid  work  is  used  as  a  background  for 
the  more  raised  effects  of  cabochon  stones  or  ivory 
bosses.  They  were  not  the  only  users  of  the  style 
in  Europe  (as  it  may  have  been  adopted  inde- 
pendently by  the  Romans  from  the  same  sodrce), 
but  they  have  made  it  their  own,  by  completely 
assimilating  it  to  their  racial  genius.  Its  birthplace, 
by  a  general  consensus  of  opinion,  is  the  East.  The 
very  early  pieces  which  are  preserved  in  the  Victoria 
and  Albert  and  British  Museums,  and  which  are 
part  of  "  the  Treasure  of  the  Oxus,"  must  have  been 


82         CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

wonderfully  beautiful  when  the  filling  was  in  place. 
But  unfortunately  this  has  all  disappeared.  In 
Egypt,  too,  inlaid  work  was  known,  but  it  differed 
in  several  points  from  that  described  above. 
This  kind  of  ornamentation  may  be  traced  across 
Europe  from  east  to  west,  though  we  do  not  know 
exactly  where  it  came  from,  nor  the  antiquity  of 
its  origin.  Persian  pieces  of  about  400  B.C.,  and 
Indian  work  not  later  than  150  B.C.  may  be  cited  ; 
but  its  interest  to  us  generally  must  be  held  to 
begin  when  our  ancestors,  in  the  shape  of  the 
invading  Teutonic  tribes,  commenced  their  wander- 
ings, and,  leaving  traces  of  their  passage  here  and 
there,  journeyed  from  the  Caucasus  across  and  over 
Europe,  spreading  at  last  as  far  as  England. 

While  archaeologists  are  able  to  assign,  with  a  con- 
siderable degree  of  precision,  the  various  objects  to 
the  particular  tribes  which  made  them,  there  is  no 
necessity  here  to  go  into  the  numerous  subdivisions, 
which  are  sufficiently  intricate  to  give  rise  to  a  very 
considerable  literature  of  their  own.  The  general 
characteristics  of  the  work  known  as  "  cloisonne,"  or 
"  inlaid,"  have  been  given  above,  and  wherever  it  is 
used  there  is  a  very  general  similarity  in  the  way  it  is 
done.  But  the  surrounding  metal  work  differs  con- 
siderably. For  instance,  in  Scandinavia  it  is  used  on 
fibulae  on  which  the  rest  of  the  decoration  consists 
mainly  of  wonderfully  entwined  and  contorted 
animals,  which  require  much  study  to  distinguish  which 
is  head,  neck,  body  or  limbs,  in  so  extraordinary 
a  manner  are  they  interlaced.  In  Merovingian  and 
Anglo-Saxon  work  this  feature  is  not  nearly  so  pro- 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES  83 

nounced,  though  there  are  frequently  introduced 
heads  of  various  marvellous  men  and  animals  ;  but 
the  decoration  is  more  often  of  beautiful  knot  work 
in  twisted  and  beaded  wire,  of  a  geometrical  char- 
acter, or  similar  designs  executed  in  carved  or  cast 
work.  The  Frankish  tribes  were  fond  of  using 
it  on  bird  forms.  We  find,  as  the  work  pro- 
ceeds farther  towards  the  west,  that  the  precious 
materials  are  more  and  more  sparsely  used  ; 
gold  is  beaten  into  thin  plates  or  worked  over 
bronze  in  some  such  way  as  that  used  later  for 
Sheffield  plate,  and  garnets  are  used  much  more 
economically. 

We  must  remember  that  the  materials  mostly 
used  for  inlay,  such  as  garnets,  turquoise,  and 
mother-of-pearl,  all  came  from  the  East,  where  in 
some  parts  (to  quote  Sir  Martin  Conway's  account 
of  a  fight  in  Northern  Kashmir)  ^  the  natives  used 
garnets  to  economise  lead  in  their  bullets,  and 
where  afterwards  he  came  across  a  stream  the  bed 
of  which  was  wholly  and  deeply  covered  with 
garnets  ;  but  naturally  the  farther  they  had  to  be 
fetched  the  more  scarce  and  precious  they  became. 
The  Anglo-Saxons  who  settled  in  England  did 
not  come  from  what  we  now  call  Saxony,  but  from 
Prussia  as  it  was  before  1866.2  They  settled  in 
this  country  in  the  fifth  century,  and  brought  with 
them  the  type  of  inlaid  jewellery  general  among 
the  Teutons  of  the  Continent.  With  -it  was  allied 
a  very  charming  kind  of  metal  work  which,  though 

'  The  Burlington  Magazine,  September,  191 1. 
'  Stubbs'  "Middle  Ages,"  vol.  i.  p.  12, 

5 


84         CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

less  intricate  than  that  developed  by  their  Celtic 
neighbours  in  Ireland,  was  yet  very  effective  and 
beautiful.  But  if  we  note  this  quality  of  roughness  in 
Anglo-Saxon  goldsmith's  work  when  compared  with 
Celtic,  we  should  look  at  the  condition  under  which 
the  respective  pieces  were  produced,  and  it  may 
be  accounted  for.  The  Irish  work  was  done  by 
artificers  working  under  the  guidance  and  protection 
of  the  Church,  but  who  were  not  (as  far  as  we  learn) 
generally  monks,  or  even  living  in  the  monastery. 
More  probably  the  art  descended  from  father  to 
son,  and  thus  early  training  and  hereditary  instinct 
would  combine  to  produce  a  more  delicate  handling. 
At  any  rate,  this  may  be  offered  as  a  possible 
solution.  Ireland,  also,  was  in  a  much  less  disturbed 
state  than  England. 

On  the  whole,  Anglo-Saxon  work  resembled 
that  produced  at  the  same  time  on  the  Conti- 
nent ;  but  there  were  two  forms  of  fibulae  which 
were  specialised  in  our  isle — the  cruciform  shape, 
which  is  exclusively  found  in  Scandinavia  and 
Northern  England,  and  the  disc-shaped  variety. 
We  must  not  be  led  by  its  shape  to  think  that  the 
cross-like  form  has  any  connection  with  Christianity  ; 
it  was  envolved  quite  independently,  though  it 
closely  resembles  some  of  the  Russian  forms  of  the 
crucifix. 

While  the  fibulae  of  various  forms  are  quite  the 
most  important  of  Anglo-Saxon  ornaments,  the 
buckles  found  are  numerous  and  beautiful.  This 
arose  from  the  custom  of  hanging  their  weapons 
and  other  belongings  to  a  belt,  so  its  fastening  was 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES  85 

an  important  piece  of  their  equipment.  They  are 
often  of  beautifully  worked  gold,  inlaid  with  garnets ; 
some  are  also  formed  of  silver-gilt  and  bronze, 
either  plain  or  gold  plated.  Sometimes  enamel  has 
been  used  to  ornament  them. 

Rings  and  ear-rings  were  generally  plain  in  early 
times,  just  a  twist  of  silver  wire  with  perhaps  a 
bead  added  as  decoration. 

Necklets  of  beads  with  or  without  coins  or  orna- 
mental pendants  were  favourite  decorations ;  and  the 
lapidaries  were  sufficiently  skilful  to  pierce  stones 
with  precision.  Amethysts  and  amber  were  fre- 
quently used  in  this  way. 

With  the  later  and  comparatively  more  peaceful 
times  following  on  the  spread  of  Christianity,  came 
the  increased  use  of  enamel.  During  the  Roman 
occupation  it  had,  of  course,  been  largely  Used  in 
Britain,  and  the  Celts  were  masters  of  the  craft ; 
but  its  extended  use  in  Anglo-Saxon  times  seems 
to  have  been  the  result  of  Church  influence  from 
some  source. 

As  before  observed,  the  goldsmiths  were  now  very 
generally  clergy  or  their  dependents,  but  they  still 
retained,  and  introduced  even  into  ecclesiastical 
objects,  the  methods  employed  by  their  pagan  fore- 
runners. We  have  many  fewer  specimens  of  this 
later  period,  because  the  heathen  custom  of  burying 
a  man's  belongings  with  him  was  disapproved  of  by 
the  clergy,  so  the  pieces  we  possess  have  mostly 
been  found  by  almost  miraculous  accidents.  The 
Alfred  jewel  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  examples. 
The  inscription  "Alfred  mecheht  gewyrcan"  ("Alfred 


86         CHAT8  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

had  me  wrought ")  leads  one  to  suppose  that  it  was 
actually  made  under  the  supervision  of  the  King 
himself.  We  certainly  know  that  he  was  for  some 
time  in  the  neighbourhood  where  it  was  found,  which 
was  three  miles  from  the  Isle  of  Athelney,  where  he 
fled  from  the  Danes  ;  perhaps  he  even  had  it  with 
him  when  he  burnt  the  cakes.  Possibly,  having 
introduced  foreign  workmen,  still  further  to  im- 
prove the  arts  which  he  loved  to  foster,  this  may 
have  been  the  production  of  a  new  pattern,  and 
the  inspirer  caused  his  name  to  be  inscribed  on 
it.  Its  exact  purpose  is  not  known.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  it  was  worn  on  the  front  of  a  hel- 
met or  as  the  summit  of  a  coronet  of  some  kind  ; 
or  it  may  have  been  the  handle  of  a  pointer.  The 
cloisonne  enamel  is  sometimes  considered  to  be  a 
portrait  of  the  King,  or  it  may  more  probably  be  a 
representation  of  Our  Lord.  It  strikes  one  in  the 
same  way  that  the  pictures  in  Celtic  manuscripts 
do  ;  it  seems  so  much  ruder  and  less  artistic  than  the 
surrounding  goldwork,  and  in  the  illuminations  the 
writing  and  borders  are  always  perfection,  while  the 
attempts  at  human  figures  are  like  a  child's  first 
drawing. 

The  Visigothic  Kings  of  Spain  were  ver>'  powerful, 
and  copied  much  from  the  proud  Emperors  of  the 
East,  Like  them,  they  surrounded  themselves  with 
the  most  splendid  objects  of  gold-  and  silversmiths' 
work. 

The  most  important  find  of  objects  of  this  period 
is  known  as  the  Treasure  of  Guarrazar,  from 
the  name  of  the    village,  six  miles  from   Toledo, 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


87 


where  they  were  found.  The  principal  things 
there  discovered  were  votive  crowns  bearing  the 
names  of  various  Visigothic  Kings  who  reigned  in 
the  seventh  century.  They  may  originally  have 
been  made  to  be  worn  on  the  head,  and  the  chains 
and  pendants  added  when  they  were  dedicated. 
They  are  the  most  magnificent 
specimens  of  their  kind,  and  are 
richly  decorated  with  sapphires 
and  pearls,  and  the  characteristic 
red  glass  inlay.  The  crown  of 
Recesvinthus  is  particularly  inte- 
resting, the  letters  which  spell  out 
his  name  being  formed  of  the  red 
inlay.  Suspended  from  each  is  a 
square  sapphire,  to  which  again  is 
hung  a  large  pear-shaped  pearl. 
These  crowns  show  specimens  both 
of  plate  and  cell  inlay. 

It  is  a  pity  that  so  many  of  the 
pieces  of  Merovingian  jewellery  that 
have  come  down  to  us  are  in  such 
bad  repair.  Much  of  it  is  made 
of  thin  plates  of  gold  over  some 
other  substance  which  has  not 
stood  the  effects  of  time  and  wear. 
The  usual  cloisonn6  work  is  used  in  its  decoration, 
almost  always  in  garnets  over  a  paillon  of  embossed 
gold.  The  metal  used  is  often  a  very  fusible  alloy 
of  tin  and  copper,  and  the  designs  are  frequently 
cast  in  this  bronze.  Gold  is  used  with  extreme  care, 
and  a  very  little  is  made  to  go  a  long  way. 


Visigothic  CroMOi. 


88         CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

Goldsmiths  were  held  in  very  high  esteem  among 
these  Teutonic  peoples  and  often  attained  great 
power.  They  were  favourably  situated  for  rising 
in  the  world,  as  they  must  generally  have  been  men 
of  intelligence  and  have  been  in  positions  where 
they  could  prove  themselves  trustworthy.  It  was 
thus  that  Eloi,  the  patron  saint  of  goldsmiths,  first 
came  into  favour.  He  received  instructions  from 
his  Royal  master,  when  he  was  a  young  stranger 
workman,  to  make  him  a  gold  throne  (or  perhaps 
a  saddle,  Sella  ora  are  the  words  in  the  old  manu- 
script), and  provided  with  a  bare  sufficiency  of 
material  for  one,  he  by  good  management  made  two 
of  it.  Whereupon  the  King  was  so  impressed  with 
his  skill  and  honesty  that  he  gave  him  a  very  high 
position.  What  really  happened,  in  all  probability, 
was,  that  Eloi,  coming  from  a  foreign  Court  where 
the  art  of  goldsmithing  was  more  advanced,  had 
learnt  superior  methods  either  of  applying  gold  in 
thin  plates  or  else  alloying  it ;  but  round  the  legend 
has  grown  up  the  superstition  that  angels  helped 
him,  and  therefore  he  is  not  given  the  full  credit 
which  his  skill  and  industry  as  a  goldsmith  deserves.^ 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  the  Burgundian  laws 
that  a  slave  who  worked  in  gold  was  more  esteemed 
than  any  ordinary  free  man,  if  we  may  judge  by 
the  blood-money  exacted  as  a  fine  for  their  murder. 

Celtic  Jewellery. — The  Celts  represent  a  branch  of 
the  Aryan  race,  which  arrived  in  Europe  in  pre- 
historic times.  They  have  left  traces  of  their  occupa- 
tion in  various  part  of  the  Continent,  but  gradually 

'  Maitland's  "  Dark  Ages." 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES  89 

they  were  forced  to  retreat  before  more  powerful 
nations,  or  at  all  events  those  of  them  who  remained, 
lost  their  characteristic  art  under  the  influence  of 
other  ideas.  So  it  is  in  the  extreme  West  alone 
that  there  is  to  be  found  a  continuous  series  showing 
the  later  development  of  their  art,  and  there,  though 
to  a  certain  extent  classic  influence  may  be  traced, 
Celtic  metal  work  maintained  an  independent 
.existence.  The  Celts  had  an  innate  genius  for 
goldsmithing  and  jewellery,  and  while  we  marvel 
at  Greek  dexterity  in  soldering,  so  we  must  admire 
the  Celtic  use  of  the  hammer  and  rivets,  wherewith 
they  formed  and  fastened  together  the  various 
parts  of  their  work,  as  in  what  is  known  as  the 
Late  Celtic  period  they  were  still  ignorant  of  the 
art  of  soldering.  The  rivets  are  often  made  to  form 
part  of  the  decoration,  having  pointed  heads  so  that 
they  break  up  the  light  pleasantly.  The  Celts  were 
also  exceedingly  skilled  enamellers,  and  it  has  been 
thought  that  enamelling  was  a  British  invention, 
though  this  is  not  at  all  certain.  These  early 
enamels  (those  of  the  Late  Celtic  period)  were  of 
the  champlev^  kind,  and  bright  opaque  colours, 
red,  blue,  and  yellow,  are  used  in  them. 

They  also  ornamented  brooches  and  other  objects 
with  studs  of  various  materials,  such  as  coral  and 
amber,  affixed  by  means  of  pins.  Their  principal 
ornaments  were  penannular  pins,  "bracelets,  and 
fibulae.  These  early  objects  are  very  interesting,  and 
often  show  a  very  high  degree  of  skill,  but  it  is  with 
the  spread  of  Christianity  in  Scotland  and  Ireland 
that  Celtic  art  reached   its   culminating   point.     In 


MEDIEVAL 

1.  German  badge  or  pendant  of  mediaeval  character. 

2.  A  pendant  of  German  workmanship.     It  is  of  a  style  which  is 

often  reproduced  in  pictures  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

3.  A  pin  with  a  figure  of  St.  Christopher.     Similar  ornaments  were 

usual  in  the  Middle  Ages.  One  is  worn  by  the  Yeoman  in 
"The  Canterbury  Tales."  It  was  found  at  Kingston-on- 
Thames  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

4.  A  Burgundian  brooch  found  in  the  Meuse.     It  represents  a  figure 

holding  a  stone  in  its  hands.  The  wires  on  which  pearls  have 
been  mounted  are  still  to  be  seen. 

5.  A  Burgundian  enseigne  or  badge. 

6.  A  fragment  of  a  Burgundian  crown  set  with  stones  and  ornamented 

with  filigree-work.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  pearls  are 
strung  on  a  wire  which  is  held  in  place  by  loops  of  gold  at 
intervals.  This  was  a  very  usual  way  of  setting  small  pearl 
beads  in  the  Middle  Ages. 


90 


91 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES  98 

jewellery,  the  penannular  brooches  (more  fully 
dealt  with  in  the  chapter  on  "Brooches")  are 
certainly  the  most  beautiful  objects  found.  Other 
ornaments  are  very  rare,  except  beads.  Rings 
were  evidently  seldom  worn.  There  is  only  one 
example  in  the  Dublin  National  Museum.  Frag- 
ments of  beautiful  crowns  of  exquisite  workman- 
ship have  been  found.  It  should  be  noted  that  the 
interlaced  pattern  dates  from  after  the  introduction 
of  Christianity,  when  soldering  appears  to  have  been 
brought  into  use. 

The  Jewellery  of  the  Later  Middle  Ages. — During 
this  period  a  gradual  blending  and  mingling  of  the 
many  different  influences  which  were  at  work  led 
up  to  that  awakening  which  took  place  in  the 
fifteenth  century  and  is  known  as  the  Renaissance. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  period  Byzantine 
traditions  still  kept  a  tight  hold  on  all  ecclesiastical 
figure  work ;  and  those  enamels  which  show  the 
human  form,  and  carved  gems,  seem  stiff  and 
grotesque  in  their  outlines,  but  all  the  same  the 
general  effect  of  the  personal  ornaments  must  have 
been  gorgeous  and  beautiful  to  the  last  degree. 

We  cannot  help  but  think  that  the  feeling  for 
beauty  which  is  innate  in  most  of  us,  finding  so  little 
outlet  in  a  pictorial  form  displayed  itself  all  the 
more  freely  in  those  directions  where  there  were 
no  rigid  rules  and  traditions  carried  less  weight. 
Unfortunately  only  too  few  pieces  oT  this  period, 
such  as  were  worn  on  ordinary  occasions,  remain 
to  us,  and  these  are  mainly  brooches  and  rings. 

There   are    also    some    magnificent    ecclesiastical 


94         CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

jewels,  such  as  those  which  once  belonged  to  William 
of  Wykeham,  which  are  still  preserved  at  New 
College,  Oxford,  which  he  founded.  Otherwise  there 
is  very  little  in  this  country  which  will  show  us  the 
kind  of  work  done  during  these  centuries,  and  on 
the  Continent  there  is  scarcely  more  of  the  lesser 
pieces. 

Mention  must  be  made  of  a  most  magnificent 
brooch  or  fermeil  in  the  Cluny  Museum.  It  is  of  most 
exquisite  workmanship,  and  shows  enamel,  gem-work, 
cast-work,  and  engraving. 

When  we  look  at  pieces  like  this  we  see  at  once 
where  the  miniaturists  and  illuminators  found  their 
inspiration  as  to  colour  schemes,  and  sometimes 
even  as  to  actual  design,  some  manuscripts  being 
ornamented  with  exact  drawings  of  jewels,  which 
we  cannot  doubt  really  existed,  so  accurate  are 
they  to  the  minutest  particular.  During  this  period 
of  change  we  notice  that  different  patterns  of  settings 
began  to  be  introduced,  the  simple  or  decorated 
collet  being  supplemented  by  several  other  kinds, 
perhaps  introduced  from  the  East,  whence,  of  course, 
the  stones  were  imported.  Details  resembling  those 
of  architecture  were  often  introduced.  This  will  not 
surprise  us  when  we  consider  how  great  a  part  in  the 
national  life  of  almost  all  countries  was  given  up 
to  the  building  of  those  wonderful  cathedrals  and 
churches  which  never  have  been  equalled  in  beauty. 
Most  of  the  stones  were  cut  en  cabochon,  and  are  fre- 
quently very  irregular  in  outline,  for  the  object  was 
to  show  off  their  beauty  and  colour  to  the  fullest 
extent  and  not  to  keep  strictly  to  any  particular  law 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES  95 

of  proportion.  Pearls  were  still  generally  pinned 
on  by  a  central  rivet,  and  pearl  beads  fastened  by  a 
wire  passed  through  the  middle,  looking  as  if  held 
by  two  claws,  were  also  now  used.  The  Byzantine 
way  of  fastening  rows  of  pearls  strung  on  wire  by 
gold  bands  at  intervals,  was  frequent.  Goldsmiths 
were  people  of  great  importance  throughout  the 
Middle  Ages  in  all  countries.  The  first  charter 
granted  to  goldsmiths  in  England  is  dated  at 
Westminster,  13th  of  March  (Edward  III., 
A.D.  1326-27). 

It  will  be  found  that  the  taste  for  jewellery  in 
the  Middle  Ages  increased  as  the  years  went  by, 
culminating  at  the  Burgundian  Court,  where 
luxury  in  this  particular  reached  an  enormous 
height.  King  John  of  France  vainly  endeavoured 
to  check  over-extravagance  by  an  edict  forbidding 
the  making  of  jewellery  worth  more  than  one  mark. 
But  it  shared  the  fate  of  most  sumptuary  laws, 
and  was  more  honoured  in  the  breach  than  the 
observance. 

Enamel  was  used  with  great  charm  and  delicacy, 
and  the  standard  of  technique  must  have  been  very 
high.  The  Renaissance  goldsmiths,  who  despised  the 
old  manner  and  melted  up  so  much  Gothic  goldwork 
and  jewellery,  hardly  surpassed  their  predecessors  in 
this,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  few  pieces  of  Mediaeval 
jewellery  which  have  come  down  to  us. 


Ill 

FROM  THE 
RENAISSANCE 
TO  THE  END  OF 
THE  SEVENTEENTH 
CENTURY 


RENAISSANCE  JEWELS.     SIXTEENTH   CENTURY 

1.  Pendant.    A  parrot  enamelled  in  natural  colours. 

2.  A  very  beautiful  ship  pendant  of  Italian  (Venetian  ?)  workmanship. 

The  cells  are  edged  with  wire,  some  plain,  some  twisted.  The 
enamel  is  not  brought  up  to  the  height  of  the  wire,  nor  is  it 
ground  flat  as  in  ordinary  cloisonn^. 

3.  Italian  ear-ring  formed  of  a  large  irregular  pear-shaped  pearl,  in  a 

gold  setting. 

4.  Cinquecento  jewel.    An  enamelled  lizard  set  with  a  Baroque  pearl. 

It  holds  an  emerald  in  its  mouth. 

5.  Pendant    in  form  of  a  pelican  with  her  young.     The  bird  is 

enamelled  white,  with  portions  of  the  metal  showing  through 
as  feather  marks.    Spanish. 


98 


99 


CHAPTER  III 

FROM  THE  RENAISSANCE  TO  THE  END  OF  THE 
SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

Jewellery  of  the  Renaissance. — With  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century  the  Renaissance  may  be  said 
to  have  begun  in  Italy,  and  thence  the  wave  of 
new  thoughts  and  impulses  spread  over  Europe. 
Helped  by  the  printing  press,  the  revolt  against 
tradition  was  passed  on  in  a  way  that  had  been 
impossible  before.  New  fashions  were  introduced 
in  almost  everything,  some  founded  on  Greek  and 
Roman  art  and  others  on  a  return  to  nature. 

In  jewellery  this  tendency  is  strongly  manifested. 
While  gorgeousness  and  rich  colour  expressed  on 
the  somewhat  grotesque  animal  forms  and  tradi- 
tional floral  ornament  of  the  Gothic  style  had 
been  the  end  to  which  the  craftsmanship  of  the 
later  Middle  Ages  tended,  we  find  that  real  life 
and  the  beauty  of  animated  things  are  the  main- 
springs which  move  the  jewellers  of  the  Renais- 
sance. The  delight  in  colour  is  still  over  all,  and 
the  exquisite  workmanship  remains,  perhaps,  even 
refined  and  improved.  There  is  an  immense  diver- 
sity, too,  in  the  designs  ;  they  resemble  one  another 


RENAISSANCE  JEWELS 

1  and  4.     A  cinquecento  jewel  set  with  emeralds  and  pearls.   The  back, 

it  will  be  noted,  was  as  beautiful  as  the  front. 

2  and  3.     Two  very  similar  pendants  of  late  sixteenth-century  work- 

manship. They  are  selected  for  illustration  as  showing 
the  way  in  which  a  design  was  varied  according  to  the 
taste  of  the  artist. 


102 


103 


THE  RENAISSANCE  105 

now  and  again,  but  there  is  always  a  difference 
somewhere,  as  if  the  artist  had  seen  his  idea  in  a 
slightly  altered  light.  When  every  touch  is  put  in 
by  hand,  it  is  easier  and  far  more  amusing  to 
make  every  piece  of  work  different.  It  is  only 
when  machines  or  machine-like  tools  come  into 
use  that  the  monotony  of  constant  repetition  sets 
in. 

We  cannot  think  of  Renaissance  jewellery  apart 
from  the  enamels,  and  when  we  think  of  them  our 
minds  at  once  turn  to  Cellini.  At  one  time  it  was 
customary  to  label  all  ornate  enamelled  and  jewelled 
ornaments  as  "  Cellini "  work,  in  the  same  way  that 
all  miniatures  were  vaguely  ascribed  to  Cosway  and 
mahogany  furniture  to  Chippendale.  But  now,  with 
the  desire  for  an  historical  basis  for  all  such  definite 
assertions,  we  find  that  very  little  metal  work  and 
no  jewels  can  be  stated  absolutely  to  be  by  him, 
and  that  the  majority  of  those  which  tradition  has 
assigned  to  him  are  almost  certainly  German  or 
Spanish. 

When  we  look  at  the  eighteenth-century  drawing, 
which  is  still  to  be  found  in  the  British  Museum, 
of  the  clasp  made  for  Pope  Clement  VII.  (the  clasp 
itself,  alas  !  has  gone  into  the  melting-pot)  whi^h  he 
so  particularly  describes  in  his  autobiography,  and 
compare  it  with  work  said  to  be  his,  we  are  struck 
with  the  great  divergency  in  the  spirit  of  the  design 
from  what  is  popularly  know  as  "  Cellini  work  " — 
such,  for  example,  as  the  beautiful  pieces  of  enamelled 
jewellery  in  the  Waddeston  Bequest,  which  the  lead- 
ing authorities  consider  German,  or  the  dragon  pen- 

6 


106        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

dant  in  the  Louvre   which  is  by  most  connoisseurs 
thought  to  be  Spanish. 

An  instance  is  given  in  Mr.  Clifford-Smith's  book 
on  "  Jewellery,"  of  a  design  by  Hans  Collaert,  pub- 
lished in  his  series  of  pendants,  which  in  two  separate 
books  is  given  as  a  jewel  by  Benvenuto  Cellini. 
There  are  a  number  of  books  of  designs  engraved 
by  jewellers  of  Germany  and  the  Low  Countries, 
but  few  are  known  to  have  originally  emanated  from 
Italy.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  fact  that  Italian  work- 
men were  not  only  extremely  skilful,  but  also  were 
highly  valued.  One  must  always  take  Cellini's 
statements  with  a  pinch  of  salt,  yet  even  with  a 
large  allowance  for  the  great  conceit  of  himself 
which  he  undoubtedly  had,  there  are  undisputed 
facts  remaining  which  prove  that  Popes,  Cardinals 
and  Kings  were  anxious  for  his  services  in  supplying 
them  with  beautiful  things,  and  there  were  other 
workmen,  hardly  less  skilful  than  he,  also  to  be 
found  in  Italy.  But  they  were  greatly  influenced 
in  matters  of  design  by  the  German  masters.  The 
reason  may,  of  course,  be  found  in  the  fact  that  most 
of  the  trade  in  precious  stones  was  in  the  hands  of 
German  and  Netherlandish  merchants,  such  as  the 
Fuggers  of  Augsburg,  who  imported  them  from 
the  East.  But  whatever  the  reason,  the  fact  un- 
doubtedly remains  that  it  is  exceedingly  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  to  determine  decisively  the  country 
of  origin  of  most  of  the  sixteenth  century  jewels 
by  the  style  of  their  design,  as  certain  characteristics 
are  to  be  found  in  them  all,  with  such  slight  differ- 
ences that  even  the  greatest  experts  differ  on  the  point. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  107 

Generally  speaking  these  jewels  are  of  gold  en- 
riched with  enamel  applied  in  the  form  of  a  coating 
over  the  metal,  not,  however,  all  over  it,  as  details 
are  frequently  left  in  the  bare  gold,  which  enriches 
and  harmonises  the  brilliant  tints.  Opaque  colours 
are  rarely  used,  but  white  of  a  peculiarly  rich  shade 
is  profusely  employed.  The  goldwork  is  most  ex- 
quisitely modelled,  either  cast,  carved,  or  worked  by 
a  mixture  of  repousse  and  chasing.  Cellini  states 
in  his  Treatise  that  all  small  things  should  be  beaten 
up,  and  describes  how  he  thus  made  the  great  clasp. 

The  stones  are  chosen  for  their  beauty  of  colour. 
Irregularity  of  form,  and  even  what  are  generally  con- 
sidered flaws,  did  not  detract  from  their  artistic  value 
in  the  eyes  of  these  workers,  who  desired  nothing  so 
little  as  symmetry  and  regularity.  They  seized  on 
the  shape  of  the  stone,  often  almost  bizarre,  as  a 
motif,  on  which  they  built  the  jewel,  making  an 
irregular  pearl  into  the  body  of  a  mermaid  or  triton, 
or  an  emerald  into  the  chest  of  a  sea-horse. 

The  stones  are  mostly  cut  en  cabochon^  and  arc 
generally  mounted  in  collet  or  openwork  settings. 
Very  frequently  there  hangs  a  pearl  or  a  group 
of  three  pearls  below  the  general  subject,  and 
having  no  particular  relation  to  the  design.  Trans- 
parent stones  are  generally  backed  with  foil .  and, 
which  appears  strange  to  us,  diamonds  were  backed 
with  black,  or  foil,  on  the  exact  shade  of  which 
much  of  the  beauty  of  the  stone  was  considered 
to  depend.  Cellini,  as  usual,  considered  himself  to 
excel  in  obtaining  the  best  results,  and  in  his  Auto- 
biography  gives  an   anecdote   relating  his  triumph 


108        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

over  his  rivals.  He  describes  how  the  other 
jewellers,  headed  by  a  "  fool,"  one  Gajo,  came  to 
him  about  a  certain  stone,  but  he  tells  the  story 
so  well  that  it  had  best  be  given  in  his  own 
words.  "  Gajo  took  the  lead  and  said, '  Endeavour 
to  preserve  the  tint  of  Miliano,  to  that,  Benvenuto, 
you  must  show  due  respect ;  for  as  the  tinting  of 
diamonds  is  the  nicest  and  most  difficult  part  of 
the  jeweller's  business,  so  Miliano  is  the  finest 
jeweller  the  world  ever  produced,  and  this  is  the 
hardest  diamond  that  was  ever  worked  upon.'  I 
answered  that  '  it  would  be  so  much  the  more 
glorious  for  me  to  vie  with  so  renowned  an  artist ' ; 
then  addressing  myself  to  the  other  jewellers,  I 
added  :  *  I  will  preserve  the  tint  of  Miliano,  you 
shall  see  whether  I  can  improve  it ;  and  in  case 
I  should  fail  of  success,  I  will  restore  its  former 
tint' 

"  The  fool  Gajo  answered  '  that  if  I  could  contrive 
to  be  as  good  as  my  word,  he  would  bow  to  my 
superior  genius.' 

"  When  he  had  finished  I  began  to  make  my  tints. 
In  the  composition  of  these  I  exerted  myself  to  the 
utmost. 

"  I  must  acknowledge  that  this  diamond  gave  me 
more  trouble  than  any  that  ever  before  or  since  fell 
into  my  hands,  and  Miliano's  tint  appeared  a  master- 
piece of  art.  However,  I  was  not  discouraged,  and 
feeling  inspired  by  the  contest  I  not  only  equalled 
Miliano's  work  but  surpassed  it.  Perceiving  that  I 
had  conquered  Miliano,  I  endeavoured  to  excel 
myself,   and   by  new   methods    made  a  tint   much 


THE  RENAISSANCE  109 

superior  to  my  former.  I  then  sent  for  the  jewellers, 
and  having  first  shown  them  the  diamond  with 
Miliano's  tint,  I  afterwards  tinted  it  again  with  my 
own.  I  showed  it  to  the  artists,  and  one  of  the 
cleverest  amongst  them,  Raffello  del  Moro,  took  the 
stone  in  his  hand  and  said  to  Gajo,  '  Benvenuto  has 
surpassed  Miliano.'  Gajo,  who  could  not  believe 
what  he  heard,  upon  taking  the  jewel  into  his  hand 
cried  out,  '  Benvenuto,  this  diamond  is  worth  two 
thousand  ducats  more  than  it  was  with  Miliano's 
tint.'  I  replied,  *  Since  I  have  surpassed  Miliano, 
let  me  see  whether  I  cannot  outdo  myself.'  Having 
requested  them  to  have  patience  a  few  moments,  I 
went  into  a  little  closet,  and  unseen  by  them  gave 
a  new  tint  to  my  diamond.  Upon  showing  it  to  the 
jewellers,  Gajo  instantly  exclaimed,  *  This  is  the  most 
extraordinary  case  I  ever  knew  in  my  life.  The 
diamond  is  now  worth  about  eighteen  thousand 
crowns,  and  we  hardly  valued  it  at  twelve  thousand. 

"  The  other  artists,  turning  to  Gajo,  said  to  him, 
'  Benvenuto  is  an  honour  to  our  profession ;  it  is  but 
just  that  we  should  bow  to  the  superiority  of  his 
genius  and  his  tints.' 

"Gajo  answered,  'I  will  go  and  inform  the  Pope 
in  what  manner  he  has  acquitted  himself,  and  so  con- 
trive that  he  shall  receive  a  thousand  crowns  for 
setting  this  diamond.'  Accordingly  he  waited  on 
his  Holiness  and  told  him  all  he  had  seen.  The  Pontiff 
thereupon  sent  three  times  a  day  to  inquire  whether 
the  ring  was  finished.  Towards  evening  I  took  it  to 
him,  and  as  I  had  free  access  and  was  not  obliged  to 
observe  any  ceremony,  I  gently  lifted  up  a  curtain 


110        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

and  saw  his  Holiness  with  the  Marquis  del  Varto,  who 
was  trying  to  persuade  him  to  something  he  did  not 
approve  of.  I  heard  the  Pope  say  to  the  marquis, 
*  I  tell  you  no,  for  it  is  proper  that  I  should  appear 
neutral  in  the  affair,' 

"Immediately  I  drew  back,  but  the  Pope  himself 
called  me,  and  while  I  advanced  and  put  the  dia- 
mond into  his  hand,  the  Marquis  retired  to  some 
distance.  The  Pope,  whilst  he  was  examining  the 
diamond,  whispered,  *  Benvenuto,  pretend  to  talk  to 
me  on  some  subject  of  importance  and  never  once 
leave  off  whilst  the  marquis  stays  in  the  room.' 

"  So  choosing  the  subject  of  most  interest  to  myself, 
I  began  to  discuss  the  method  I  had  observed  in  tint- 
ing the  diamond.  The  Marquis  stood  on  one  side, 
leaning  against  the  tapestry  hanging ;  sometimes  he 
stood  on  one  foot,  sometimes  on  the  other.  We  could 
have  talked  for  three  hours.  The  Pope  took  such 
delight  in  it  that  it  counterbalanced  the  disagreeable 
impression  the  marquis  had  made  on  his  mind.  Our 
chat  was  prolonged  almost  the  space  of  an  hour,  and 
the  marquis's  patience  was  so  worn  out  that  he  went 
away  half  angry.  The  Pope  then  showed  me  great 
demonstrations  of  kindness,  and  concluded  with 
these  words :  '  My  dear  Benvenuto,  be  diligent  in 
your  business  and  I  will  reward  your  merits  with 
something  more  considerable  than  the  thousand 
crowns  which  Gajo  tells  me  you  deserve  for  your 
trouble.'  " 

Besides  showing  the  stress  laid  on  the  colouring  of 
the  stone,  is  not  this  a  delightful  picture  of  the  life  of 
the  time  ?     Does  it  not  explain  to  us  some  at  least  of 


THE  RENAISSANCE  111 

the  reasons  for  the  splendour  of  the  work  of  those 
days  ?  The  keen  interest  showed  by  the  workman 
and  his  fellows  in  the  processes  of  their  craft  and 
the  no  less  deep  interest  displayed  by  the  Pope  in 
the  jewel  he  has  ordered,  each  have  their  part  in  rais- 
ing the  standard  of  workmanship  to  the  point  which 
makes  this  period  so  distinguished,      A  clever  work- 


Design  for  Pendant  from  the  KunstbUcklein 
of  Hans  Brosamer.     He  died  in  1552. 

man  is  helped  and  encouraged  by  an  intelligent 
patron,  and  the  more  closely  the  producer  and  the 
purchaser  can  be  brought  into  touch  the  better  for 
the  craft.  When  this  personal  touch  is  lost,  art  is 
degraded  to  a  mere  manufacture,  and  the  craftsman 
has  to  give  place  to  the  mechanic. 

Of  extreme  interest  are  the  engraved  designs  and 


112        CHATS  ON    OLD  JEWELLERY 

original  drawings  of  this  century,  in  which  we  may 
study  the  ideas  which  great  artists,  such  as  Durer  and 
Holbein,  held  on  the  subject,  and  also  those  of  such 
past-masters  of  the  craft  as  Virgil  Solis  (German), 
Etienne  Delaulne  (French),  and  Collaert  (Dutch),  and 
from  these  we  can  identify  the  school  of  design, 
though  not  the  country  of  origin. 

There  are  so  many  varieties  of  personal  ornaments 
decorated  in  the  same  way,  more  or  less,  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  describe  them  all  particularly.  After 
the  pendant  the  most  characteristic  is  the  enseigne,  a 
hat  ornament  almost  exclusively  belonging  to  this 
period.  It  is  most  usually  disc-shaped,  and  frequently 
consists  of  an  ornamental  device  peculiar  to  the 
wearer,  sometimes  chosen  because  of  a  patron  saint, 
or  some  historic  incident  which  it  was  wished  to 
commemorate.  Initial  jewellery  was  also  popular, 
especially  in  the  form  of  pendants,  they  generally 
consisted  of  large  monograms  interwoven,  but  some- 
times of  a  single  letter  only.  Naturally,  works  such 
as  those  described  above  fetch  prices  which  remove 
them  finally  out  of  reach  of  all  who  are  not  extremely 
wealthy.  Even  the  man  of  unlimited  means 
beginning  now  would  find  it  almost  an  impos- 
sibility to  get  together  such  a  collection  as  that 
displayed  in  the  Waddeston  Bequest  Room  at  the 
British  Museum,  because  such  specimens  are  not 
on  the  market.  Still,  a  collector  should  never 
despair.  There  is  always  a  possibility  of  finding 
treasures  where  least  expected,  if  the  knowledge  of 
what  to  look  for  has  been  gained.  But  there  are 
baits  cast  for  the   bargain   hunter  ;   these   beautiful 


THE  RENAISSANCE 


113 


things  have  been  copied,  and  also  the  general  style 
has  been  imitated.  The  least  successful  copies  are 
those  made  of  silver-gilt,  on  which  the  enamels  are 
rarely  brilliant.  The  originals  are  practically  always 
of  nearly  fine  gold,  and  the  stones,  though  often 
flawed,  are  large  and  of  rich  colour.  These  inferior 
copies  are  often  of  small  specimens,  as  these  have 
a  better  chance  of  sale  as  personal  ornaments  than 
there  would  be  for  pieces  of  greater  size.  They 
are  set  most  usually  with  insig- 
nificant stones  or  paste.  They 
would  not  deceive  a  careful 
buyer,  but  there  are  also  exact 
imitations  set  with  fine  stones 
and  made  of  gold,  and  these  are 
often  so  good  that  they  lead 
people  to  buy  them  as  originals, 
which  is  regrettable ;  otherwise, 
as  they  are  far  prettier  than 
most  of  the  jewellery  which  can 
be  bought  in  the  ordinary  way, 
they  are  much  more  suited  for 
artistic  people  to  wear. 

Seventeenth  Century. — As  the  sixteenth  century 
progressed  a  new  feature  was  introduced  into  jewel- 
lery— the  setting  of  many  smallish  stones,  sq  as  to 
form  glittering  lines  or  masses.  The  earlier  use  of 
stones  had  been  for  the  sake  of  their  colour,  or  to 
act  as  a  focus  of  interest  amongst  goldwork  and 
enamel.  They  had  most  generally  been  cut  en 
cabochon,  or  by  simple  methods  which,  while  they 
showed  off  the  individual  beauty  of  the  stone,  did 


From  a  painting  by 
Mabuse.  The  pearls 
are  round  beads (not 
halves),  fastened  by 
a  centre  pin.  Com- 
pare with  illustration 
on  p.  III. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

1.  Enamel  necklet  and   pendant  of  French  workmanship.     It  was 

made  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

2.  Seventeenth-century  ornament    (after   Lejuge)   in   diamonds   and 

other  stones.  In  the  same  book,  with  similar  designs,  there 
are  also  drawings  in  the  earlier  styles  of  flower  work  and 
ornate  goldwork. 


Hi 


115 


THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY      117 

not  add  much  to  the  glitter  or  reflecting  power. 
Even  diamonds,  which,  as  used  in  later  times,  are 
almost  a  synonym  for  brilliance,  were  so  cut  that 
in  order  to  show  them  up,  various  foils  had  to  be 
used  behind  them,  and  sometimes  they  were  even 
backed  with  black,  as  described  in  the  last  chapter. 
The  diamond  in  the  Cellini  cope  button,  which  in 
the  eighteenth-century  drawing  now  in  the  British 
Museum  looks  a  deep  grey,  was  thus  treated. 

But  the  art  of  cutting  diamonds  having  been 
elaborated,  their  use  with  coloured  stones,  also  cut 
in  facets,  as  the  principal  interest  of  jewellery  became 
a  leading  fashion,  and  is  said  to  have  been  first 
practised  by  Daniel  Mignot  towards  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Though  the  settings  were  placed 
in  close  juxtaposition,  the  stones  of  the  earlier  pieces 
are  not  actually  very  near  to  each  other,  because  of 
the  slope  of  the  sides  of  the  setting,  which  was  often 
almost  pyramidal,  with  the  stone  as  a  culminatingpoint 
on  the  top.  There  is  still  a  certain  amount  of  interest, 
therefore,  in  the  metal  work,  which  is  often  of  very 
good  workmanship,  though  somewhat  heavy.  A 
favourite  class  of  design  is  an  arrangement  of  leaves, 
flowers,  and  knots  of  ribbon  set  with  the  different 
coloured  transparent  stones  and  diamonds,  real  or 
false.  The  diamonds  were  mounted  in  silver  ^nd  the 
coloured  stones  in  gold,  as  a  rule,  as  this  tended  to 
increase  not  only  the  brilliancy  but  also  the  apparent 
size  of  the  stones,  quite  a  small  one  (especially  with 
diamonds)  making  a  brave  display.  But  enamel 
work  was  not  entirely  ousted  from  the  field,  though 
its  character  was  different  from  that  of  Renaissance 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

A  George  and  dragon.  Italian  work  of  the  early  seventeenth 
century.     The  centre  group  is  enamelled. 

A  sixteenth-century  cameo  portrait  of  Lucius  Venus  cut  in  a  dark 
onyx.  The  enamelled  setting,  of  early  seventeenth-century 
workmanship,  is  in  what  is  known  as  the  "Peapod"  style. 
The  enamel  is  green  with  little  white  "peas."  It  has  small 
diamonds  set  on  each  pod. 

Pendant  in  an  enamelled  setting.  The  cameo  is  by  Alessandro 
Cesati  (also  known  as  II  Greco,  or  Grechetto),  who  worked 
from  1538  to  1 56 1.  The  setting,  which  is  of  gold,  with 
flowers  modelled  and  coloured  in  a  natural  manner,  is  of 
later  date. 


US 


119 


THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY      121 

times.  The  enamelled  beasts  and  fabulous  mon- 
sters with  their  huge  stones  and  baroque  pearls, 
and  the  groups  of  minute  figures  worked  in  the 
round,  gave  place  to  an  entirely  different  style 
which  existed  contemporaneously  with  the  gem- 
work,  and  flowers,  exquisitely  painted  in  natural 
colours  on  an  enamel  ground,  were  used  as  the 
principal  decoration  of  pendants ;  they  were  some- 
times modelled  in  relief  in  the  metal,  or  in  a  paste  of 
enamel  and  china  clay,  and  glazed  afterwards.  The 
effect  is  agreeable,  but  hardly  in  accordance  with  the 
very  best  taste,  though  they  are  much  admired  and 
highly  valued.  There  was  also  used  a  kind  of 
champlev6  enamel  which  bears  a  most  surprising 
resemblance  to  cloisonn6 ;  it  is  hard  to  understand 
why  the  design  should  have  been  carried  out  in  this 
particular  way.  The  enamelling  is  of  perfect  work- 
manship, but  it  was  evidently  considered  inferior  to 
the  jewel  work,  as  on  the  back  red  and  blue  enamels 
form  a  substitute  for  the  diamonds  and  rubies  of  the 
face.  Another  form  of  enamel  is  a  variety  of 
basse-taille  in  which  the  design,  consisting  of  orna- 
mental arrangements  of  flowers  and  fruit,  is  covered 
with  transparent  enamel.  Miniature-cases  were  often 
decorated  in  this  way,  which  continued  in  use  through 
the  century. 

Pearls  were  in  immense  demand  during  the  period, 
and  were  worn  in  strings  and  ropes  in  great  numbers, 
as  shown  in  the  portraits  of  the  great  ladies  of  the 
time.  Henrietta  Maria  is  always  shown  with 
quantities  of  them.  There  was  also  a  great  feeling 
for  cameos,  which   were  in    considerable   favour   in 


122        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

England.  In  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  there  is 
a  portrait  of  Thomas  Chaffinch,  the  keeper  of  Charles 
the  First's  jewels  (who  lived  1600-60),  in  which  he 
is  painted  surrounded  by  various  works  of  art ;  the 
cameos  are  displayed  to  much  greater  advantage 
than  anything  else,  which  shows  they  were  con- 
sidered the  most  important  of  the  treasures  de- 
picted. 

Necklaces  of  enamel  and  goldsmith's  work  lost 
ground  in  public  favour  during  the  progress  of  the 
century,  their  place  being  taken  by  the  strings  of 
pearls.  Ear-rings  were  large  and  important ;  some- 
times the  drop  was  a  single  pear-shaped  pearl,  but 
the  greater  number  were  of  the  popular  gem-work  in 
open  designs.  They  were  often  so  large  that  the 
pairs  have  been  divided,  and  used  separately  as 
neck  pendants.  The  rings,  which  are  very  interest- 
ing, are  treated  in  the  special  chapter  on  the  subject. 
The  neck  pendant  when  used  was  of  gem-work,  or  a 
miniature  case  in  one  of  the  varieties  of  enamel. 
Particularly  interesting  are  the  rings  and  lockets 
worn  in  memory  of  Charles  I.  Most  of  them  have 
in  the  bezel  a  tiny  portrait  of  the  King  or  a  little 
relic  ;  others  merely  have  his  initials  and  the  date, 
with  mourning  emblems.  They  are  not  so  rare  as 
one  would  expect  them  to  be,  but  they  seldom  come 
into  the  market,  as  the  memory  of  Charles  is  still  very 
dear  to  most  people ;  and  while  they  empty  their 
jewel-cases  of  other  trinkets  which  they  consider  of 
little  value,  owing  to  there  not  being  much  gold  or 
any  valuable  stones  in  them,  they  feel  a  sentimental 
interest  in  a  relic  of  the  Martyr  King.     Otherwise, 


THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY      123 

except  the  enamel  work,  in  which  the  actual  metal 
was  of  little  value,  there  is  not  much  seventeenth- 
century  English  jewellery  surviving.  The  unsettled 
state  of  the  middle  of  the  century  not  only  caused  an 
interruption  of  the  manufacture,  but  led  to  much 
jewellery  being  broken  up  to  provide  funds  for  the 
civil  war. 

Among  the  designers  who  published  books  of 
designs — which  should  be  studied  by  any  one  who 
thinks  they  have  a  piece  which  might  belong  to  the 
period — are  Moncornet,  who  lived  about  1670,  showing 
the  various  arrangements  of  stones  which  were  then 
so  fashionable.  Lefebure's  "  Livre  des  Fleurs," 
published  in  1679,  in  which  the  flower-work  is 
particularly  well  shown,  the  blossoms  are  drawn  in  a 
natural  way  but  grouped  decoratively.  Jacques  de 
Cerceau  published  a  book  towards  the  end  of  the 
century  of  another  different  type,  the  designs  being 
somewhat  like  those  in  the  well-known  "  Jacobean  " 
embroidery. 


Pearl  and  Diamond  Ornament. 
From  the  Santini  Design  Book. 


IV 

THE  EIGHTEENTH 
AND 

NINETEENTH 
CENTURIES 


Late  seventeenth-  or 
early  eighteenth- 
century  Brooch. 
Diamond  Bow. 
Coloured  spray. 


Breast  ornament  in  goldwork,  partly  enamelled,  set  with  table-cut 
emeralds.  Probably  of  Spanish  workmanship.  Late  seventeenth 
or  early  eighteenth  century. 


126 


127 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE   EIGHTEENTH   AND   NINETEENTH   CENTURIES 

The  Eighteenth  Century, — How  closely  akin  to  us 
in  many  points  of  thought  and  feeling  were  our 
ancestors  of  the  eighteenth  century !  In  a  way, 
we  seem  to  be  more  in  touch  with  them  than  with 
our  forbears  of  the  nineteenth.  Their  pictures 
delight  us,  their  pottery  and  porcelain  is  as  much 
to  our  taste  as  it  was  to  theirs  ;  and  then,  was  there 
ever  a  period  when  furniture  so  beautiful,  yet  so 
comfortable  withal,  was  made  ?  So,  too,  the  jewel- 
lery of  the  eighteenth  century  seems  to  make  an 
appeal  to  our  taste  which  that  of  some  other 
periods  lacks.  It  is  only  now  and  again  among 
the  earlier  pieces  that  one  comes  across  things  which 
can  be  used  nowadays  without  the  wearer  appearing 
outrd.  But  many  an  ornament  of  the  Louis  XV.  and 
Louis  XVI.  periods  of  enamel,  diamonds,  or  marcasite, 
or  English  Georgian  paste  or  steel  work,  is  the  joy 
of  the  owner  and  the  admiration  of  her  friends. 

Fortunately,  it  is  not  an  expensive  matter  to 
satisfy  this  taste  for  eighteenth-century  work,  in  some 
lines,  at  all  events.  Diamonds,  even  rose  diamonds, 
may  be  too  much  for  some  pockets,  but  paste  and 

129 


130        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

marcasite  take  their  place  now  as  they  did  in  bygone 
days.  If  engraved  gems  are  beyond  us,  a  tiny 
Wedgwood  jasper  cameo  is  as  dainty  and  perhaps 
more  decorative.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  this  sort 
of  thing  about,  of  the  minor  kinds  especially,  but  one 
must  know  where  to  look  and  what  one  is  looking 
for.  The  country  jeweller,  the  pawnbroker,  the 
exchange  column  in  the  various  ladies'  papers  may 
serve  as  hunting-grounds  where  treasure-trove  may 
be  expected. 

For  the  origin  of  almost  all  the  fashions  in  England 
after  the  beginning  of  the  century  we  shall  have  to 
search  in  France,  though  English  workmanship  was 
in  many  things  as  good  or  better.  Sometimes,  how- 
ever, we  gave  them  our  ideas  in  exchange ;  for 
instance,  their  steel  jewellery  is  copied  from  ours 
both  in  workmanship  and  design,  and  Wedgwood's 
plaques  were  imitated  at  the  Sevres  factory  ;  but  on 
the  whole,  with  regard  to  the  general  design  and 
way  of  wearing  things,  it  was  the  other  way  round. 
For  instance,  when  shoe-buckles  were  given  up  in 
France  in  order  that  the  silver  they  contained  might 
enrich  the  impoverished  treasury  of  "  La  Patrie," 
Englishmen  hastened  to  leave  them  off  also,  whereby 
about  twenty  thousand  workpeople  were  brought  to 
the  very  verge  of  starvation. 

Throughout  this  century  we  find  two  classes  of 
work  on  personal  ornaments.  In  France  (and  this 
is  one  of  the  things  they  do  "  do  better  "  there)  they 
have  distinctive  words  for  them,  whereas  we  only 
have  the  one,  "  Jeweller."  They  have  Bijouterie  for 
the    "art   of  working  in   gold    and    enamel,"   and 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY        131 

Joaillerie,  the  "art  of  mounting  diamonds  and  precious 
stones,"  thus  distinguishing  between  the  two  distinct 
crafts.  The  old  English  term  which  corresponded 
more  or  less  to  the  first  was  "  toyman,"  but  the  "toy- 
man" does  not  seem  to  have  been  nearly  such  an  im- 
portant person  as  the  "  bijoutier  " ;  he  did  not  work 
in  such  an  elaborate  way,  nor  in  such  precious 
materials.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  have  little  made 
in  England  which  can  compare  for  richness  and 
supreme  technique  with  the  masterpieces  of  the 
great  French  workers.  However,  there  are  pieces 
which  in  a  simple  way  have  a  quiet  charm  all  their 
own.  For  instance,  there  was  an  especially  quaint 
kind  of  jewellery  to  be  found  in  the  little  ornaments 
which  it  was  usual  to  wear  in  memory  of  departed 
friends  and  relatives.  English  people  always  seem 
to  have  been  fond  of  thus  displaying  some  token  of 
their  affection,  but  till  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  they  were  generally  rings  of  gold  or  silver 
decorated  in  enamel  or  niello.  This  work  which  I 
am  now  describing  sometimes  took  the  form  of 
rings,  but  also  brooches  and  such  things  were  much 
worn.  The  face  is  of  rock  crystal  or  glass,  generally 
cut  in  facets,  but  sometimes  step  or  table  cut.  It 
covers  a  delicate  filigree  work  of  gold,  or  cut  out 
designs  in  the  same  metal,  displayed  on  a  background 
of  hair  or  ribbed  silk.  The  settings  are  of  gold,  and 
the  workmanship  of  the  whole  is  of  a  very  high 
standard.  There  are  not  nearly  so  many  specimens 
of  this  early  kind  as  of  the  later  grisaille  work.  It 
must  have  been  more  expensive  to  make,  one  would 
think,  as  the  execution  is  often  exceedingly  minute. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.       IN-MEMORIAM  JEWELLERY 

I  and  3.     Gold  studs  with  little  skeletons  on  silk.     They  are  covered 
with  glass  and  set  in  gold. 
2.     Similar  work.     There  is  a  gold  lion  and  initials,  which  are 

over  a  background  of  woven  strands  of  hair. 
4.     Initials  of  fine  gold  with  a  ground  of  plaited  hair.      This 
is  edged  with  blue  and  covered  with  faceted  glass  on 
crystal.     The  border  is  of  garnets. 
5  and  6.     Pair  of  ear-rings.     Late  eighteenth  century.     Paintings  in 
grisaille  mounted  in  gold. 

7.  Goldwork  initials  on  a  silk  ground.      The   border    is  of 

alternate  rubies  and  pearls. 

8.  Pendant  ornament.     Very  fine   grisaille   painting  on  ivory 

surrounded  with  pastes.     1780. 

9.  Slide   with   metal  work   in   the  centre  of  various  colours, 

apparently   lacquered.     The  design   is  a  female  figure 
and  a  stag,  with  initials  in  the  middle. 


132 


133 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY        135 

Before  going  more  particularly  into  the  various 
kinds  of  work  which  flourished  in  the  period  we 
are  studying,  it  will  perhaps  be  just  as  well  to 
notice  that  the  general  styles  of  decoration  during 
the  century  may  be  roughly  divided  into  two  parts 
— the  earlier,  the  "  Rococo,"  being  compounded  of  a 
curious  mixture  of  motifs  such  as  shell-work,  scrolls, 
flowers  and  feathers,  all  arranged  just  as  the  work- 
man fancied.  As  far  as  possible  there  were  no  plane 
surfaces  or  symmetrical  outlines,  but  irregular  curves 
and  unusual  shapes  were  introduced.  (Those  who 
study  furniture  will  recognise  this  style  as  having  its 
counterpart  in  some  of  Chippendale's  designs.)  Later, 
about  the  middle  of  the  century,  came  a  much  more 
refined  style,  owing  to  the  fashion  of  admiring  all 
classic  art,  which  was  once  more  brought  promi- 
nently into  public  notice  by  the  discovery  of  Hercu- 
laneum  and  of  Pompeii.  It  was  popularised  by 
the  drawings  and  pictures  published  by  the  numer- 
ous artists  who  went  to  Italy  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  ancient  buildings  and  sculpture.  Perhaps 
the  Adam  Brothers  had  the  greatest  share  in  making 
this  style  fashionable  in  England.  Then  quite  at  the 
end  of  the  century  we  have  the  rigid  and  formal 
type,  founded  on  the  ideas  of  those  who  had  been 
raised  to  power  by  the  French  Republic.  "  It  was 
during  this  era  of  Jacobinism  and  Equality  in  1793 
and  1794  that  what  were  known  as  the  'elegancies 
of  dress'  received  their  death-blow.  Wigs  disap- 
peared, powder  had  gone,  buckles  -  gave  place  to 
shoestrings,  and  pantaloons  encased  the  legs" 
("The  Beaux  and  the  Dandies,"  Jerrold). 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 

Enamelled  and  jewelled  corsage  ornament.  Probably  of  Spanish 
workmanship.  It  is  of  gold  set  with  rose  diamonds.  The 
flowers  are  enamelled  in  their  natural  colours. 


lae 


137 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY        139 

In  jewellery  the  rococo  was  not  carried  to  any- 
thing like  the  extravagant  lengths  that  it  reached 
in  other  branches  of  the  applied  arts.  Its  principal 
effect  was  on  the  lines  in  which  the  gems  which  were 
so  fashionable  were  set,  and  the  work  in  which  such 
things  as  seals  are  mounted.  Watch-keys,  watch 
backs,  miniature-cases,  and  chatelaines  are  also 
objects  in  which  we  are  likely  to  find  the  scrolls, 
ribbons,  and  shell-work  mingled  in  the  rich  but 
somewhat  inconsequent  way  which  is  characteristic 
of  the  style.  During  this  period  we  find  chiselled 
and  wrought  gold  extremely  popular, 
but  this  type  of  design  is  not  really 
suitable  for  gold.  It  shows  up  lights 
and  reflections  to  a  certain  extent,  but 
one  does  not  feel  that  a  goldsmith  would 
either  initiate  the  style  or  even  wish  to 
work  in  it  unless  he  were  led  to  do  so  by  ^ 
it  being  in  demand.  It  seems  at  best  an  Ornament, 
interesting  and  highly  skilled  translation 
from  some  other  material.  It  was  in  its  most  ornate 
forms  an  exotic,  and  failed  to  retain  its  hold  long 
on  the  general  fancy.  The  kind  of  mock  sim- 
plicity that  came  into  vogue  under  the  influence 
of  Madame  de  Pompadour  expressed  itself  in  jewel- 
lery by  the  most  charming  bouquets  and  groups  of 
musical  instruments,  and  other  ornamental  fancies 
worked  in  gold  d  quatte  couleurs.  The  metal  was 
mixed  with  different  alloys  to  vary  the  tint,  copper 
giving  a  red  tint,  silver  a  green,  and  iron  a  blue 
shade.  The  design  was  cut  out  in  pieces  of  the  re- 
quired coloured  gold,  and  these  were  soldered  on  to 


140        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

a  plain  ground  and  carved,  chased  and  engraved  in 
the  most  minute  and  perfect  detail.  Though  appa- 
rently simple  it  was  a  very  costly  fashion,  as  it  de- 
manded the  most  elaborate  and  skilled  workmanship 
to  carry  out  the  delicate  design  in  the  quiet  yet 
distinctive  manner  demanded.  With  the  coming  of 
the  "  antique "  taste  a  step  farther  away  from  the 
extravagant  curves  and  swells  of  the  rococo  was 
taken.  Restraint  in  outline  and  decoration  became 
more  and  more  marked ;  everything,  except  the  gem- 
work,  to  be  fashionable  had  to  have  some  slight 
touch  which  showed  what  was  considered  "  classic 
feeling."  The  real  classic  jewellery  was  not  copied 
(at  least  the  granulations  and  filigree  were  not),  but 
cameos  and  imitation  cameos  were  introduced,  and 
urn  shapes  and  other  pseudo-classic  motives  were 
favourite  items.  To  this  period  belong  some  very 
charming  mourning  jewellery,  of  all  the  more  interest 
because  it  is  often  dated,  and  mostly  of  English 
workmanship.  Generally  a  figure  or  figures  in 
classical  garb  are  gracefully  arranged  under  a  tree 
or  porch,  gazing  mournfully  at  an  urn  or  tomb. 
This  idea  is  carried  out  very  variously,  and  by 
different  methods  of  execution  in  black  on  an  ivory 
ground,  or  in  grisaille  on  mother-of-pearl,  and  some- 
times in  colours,  but  this  is  rarer.  In  any  case  the 
shape  is  generally  oval  and  surrounded  with  dia- 
monds, paste,  or  pearls.  Sometimes  there  was  a 
piqu6  border  of  black  enamel.  Oval  brooch  clasps, 
pendants,  and  rings  were  all  thus  ornamented. 
Small  portrait  miniatures  are  also  set  in  this  way, 
surrounded   with   little   stones  and    worn    as    neck 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY        141 

ornaments.  Very  fine  pearl  work  and  tiny  ivory 
carvings  were  used  in  the  same  manner,  A  feature 
of  the  less  expensive  stone  work  was  a  considerable 
use  of  garnets  set  over  gold  foil  for  small  brooches, 
clasps,  and  such  things.  The  stones  are  always  table 
cut,  and  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  popular 
garnet  work  of  the  mid-nineteenth  century  and 
onwards,  in  which  the  small  stones  are  close  set  in 
crescents,  stars,  &c.,  and  in  which  the  stones  are 
invariably  sharply  faceted  and  a  glittering  effect 
produced. 

Eighteenth-century  enamel  is  often  very  beau- 
tiful, especially  the  effects  of  transparent  coats 
over  a  carved  ground.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
century  this  was  often  of  a  floral  or  scrollish  descrip- 
tion, but  later  a  more  formal  style  was  introduced 
with  rich  colours.  Then  there  was  also  a  very 
exquisite  enamel  consisting  of  flowers  done  in 
openwork  metal,  and  enamelled  in  natural  colours 
somewhat  similar  to  seventeenth-century  work. 
It  is  very  scarce  and  extremely  valuable.  The 
painted  enamels  are  works  of  art.  These  were  not  done 
in  the  styles  of  the  earlier  "  Limoges,"  but  more 
after  the  method  of  china  painting.  They  are  tiny 
pictures  of  delicate  and  exquisite  finish,  and  were 
carried  out  by  well-known  artists,  who  frequently 
signed  them  with  their  names  or  initials'.  These 
pieces  are  exceedingly  valuable,  and  have  been 
admired  and  collected  for  many  years,  so  are  very 
rarely  found.  They  are  still  copied  nowadays,  and 
even  better  imitations  were  made  in  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century.     If  hall-marking  were  usual 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  MISCELLANEOUS 

1.  Pendant  in  silver-gilt,  set  with  paste  diamonds. 

2.  Star  of  the  Order  of  Charles  III.  of  Spain.    This  is  decorated 

with  blue  and  white  enamel  and  edged  with  gold. 

3.  French  vinaigrette.     About    1750.     It  is  enamelled  in  panels  of 

green  on  a  gold  and  white  ground.     The  panels  are  further 
ornamented  with  bouquets  of  flowers  in  natural  colours. 

4.  Brooch  set  with    garnets.      Late   eighteenth  century.      English 

work.      Similar  garnet-work   was  used   for  clasps,  buttons, 
and  as  frames  for  miniatures. 

5.  A  small  cross  set  with  diamonds  and  rubies  in  very  characteristic 

high  settings.     French. 


142 


143 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY        145 

this  would  not  much  matter,  but  it  is  generally 
omitted.  Battersea  plaques  were  also  set  in  brooches, 
and  have  a  general  resemblance  to  the  French 
enamel,  but  are  not  nearly  so  fine,  though  they  have 
a  charm  of  their  own ;  the  technique  and  finish  are, 
however,  far  inferior. 

A  setting  which  came  into  fashion  in  the  last  thirty 
years  of  the  century  is  very  charming  and  charac- 
teristic. On  a  background  of  rich  blue  enamel  over  a 
finely  engraved  ground  or  blue  glass  over  foil,  is 
mounted  an  arrangement  of  diamonds  (or  their  substi- 
tutes) in  the  shape  of  a  bouquet  or  basket  of  flowers  ; 
the  whole  is  surrounded  with  tiny  stones  exquisitely 
set.  Jewels  of  this  kind  have  a  most  refined  and 
at  the  same  time  rich  effect.  They  were  sometimes 
mounted  on  other  colours,  but  the  fashion  was 
principally  for  blue.  A  description  of  the  rage  for 
this  shade  is  given  by  M.  Fontenoy,  and  as  it  contains 
an  interesting  account  of  what  may  be  found  in  this 
style  of  work,  I  will  translate  the  passage.  "  They 
were  not  content  with  using  blue  enamel  on  every- 
thing, but  made  jewels  in  blue  glass,  for  at  this  time 
everything  was  blue.  Brooches  and  chatelaines  with 
seals  and  keys  set  round  with  little  diamonds,  and 
with  intertwined  initials,  hearts,  crowns,  and  flowers, 
in  the  centre.  Turtle-doves  and  woolly  whitp  lambs, 
the  natural  inhabitants  of  the  blue  landscape,  were 
not  lacking  to  complete  the  emblems  of  a  senti- 
mental philosophy."  ^ 

'  This  rage  for  blue  glass  found  another  outlet  in  contemporary 
table  silver  and  pewter,  which  is  often  pierced  to  show  a  glass  liner, 
generally  of  a  rich  cobalt  shade. 


146        CHATS   ON   OLD  JEWELLERY 

Tortoiseshell  was  sometimes  used  for  the  larger 
articles  of  ornament,  such  as  hair  slides,  and  combs, 
and  waist-clasps,  and  the  backs  and  outer  cases  of 
watches.  It  is  often  ornamented  in  one  of  three 
ways  by  a  method  somewhat  resembling  inlay. 
For  this  purpose,  the  metal  used  is  generally  gold, 
but  occasionally  silver  or  Pinchbeck  is  substituted. 
When  tiny  gold  pins  are  driven  in  closely  together 
to  form  a  pattern  it  is  said  to  be  "  Piqu^  d'or."  If 
the  pins  are  larger  it  is  said  to  be  "  Clouts  d'or,"  and 
*'  Pos6  d'or  "  when  the  gold  is  in  larger  pieces  and 
represents  the  silhouette  of  a  design,  such  as  figures 
or  arabesques,  which  were  afterwards  beautifully 
chased.  The  style  was  introduced  at  the  end  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  continued  until  the 
end  of  the  Empire  period.  The  origin  of  the 
work  will  probably  be  found  in  the  beautiful  gold 
and  black  Oriental  lacquer  which,  throughout  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  held  a  high 
place  in  general  estimation.  Naples  was  very 
celebrated  for  pique  work. 

It  was  in  the  chatelaines  that  the  "bijoutier"  of 
the  eighteenth  century  found  one  of  the  principal 
outlets  for  his  skill.  Here  he  had  not  to  compete 
with  the  jeweller,  and  he  took  full  advantage  of  his 
opportunities.  The  more  expensive  ones  were 
made  of  gold  and  enamels.  Their  size  gave  him  a 
fairly  large  surface  on  which  to  display  his  talents, 
as  the  garniture  almost  always  included  a  watch, 
which  hung  generally  from  a  swivel  and  important 
chain.  The  decoration  generally  culminated  on  the 
back  of  the  watch,  on  which  the  utmost  skill    was 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY        147 


lavished  in  harmony  with  though  rather  more 
elaborate  than  the  rest  of  the  chatelaine.  The 
collection  of  good  specimens  in  gold  and  enamel  is 
almost  outside  the  region  of  "  practical  politics  "  for 
those  who  are  not  millionaires,  but  there  are  charm- 
ing specimens  in  cut  steel,  silver,  and  Pinchbeck  to 
be  met  with,  which  are  carried  out  in  the  same 
styles  only  in  a  somewhat  simplified  way.  Silver- 
gilt  is  often  found.  The  early  chatelaines  usually 
carry  a  watch,  watch-key,  and  seal  ;  later  ones  have 
more  things  attached. 

The  jeweller's  art  in  the  early 
part  of  the  century  consisted  in 
mounting  diamonds  and  coloured 
stones  together  in  various  rather 
trivial  designs.  Sprays  of  flowers, 
feathers,  and  bouquets  were  made 
up  of  different  kinds  of  stones  to 
represent  the  originals  in  some- 
thing of  the  natural  colours. 
The  coloured  stones  were  set  in 
gold  and  the  diamonds  in  silver ; 
the  main  body  of  the  work  was  generally  of  gold 
when  coloured  stones  were  used.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  century  each  stone,  however  small, 
generally  had  its  own  tiny  setting,  which  as  a  rule 
were  arranged  closely  together.  Later,  especially 
with  diamonds,  it  became  customary  to  mount 
them  with  no  visible  line  of  metal  between, 
just  a  tiny  point  of  silver  serving  to  hold  them  in 
place.  Diamonds  were  still  mostly  set  solid,  and 
were  very  frequently  rose-cut,  though  brilliants  were 


Aigrette  Design  by 
Pouget,  fils. 


148        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

more  esteemed.  Some  of  the  jewel  work  of  the 
first  third  of  the  century,  composed  of  small 
sprays  of  flowers  interwoven  with  ribbons,  is 
very  dainty  and  pretty,  reminding  one  of  the  work- 
manship of  the  giardinetti  rings.  This  motif  of 
a  ribbon  bow  was  elaborated  in  many  forms  and 
was  used  to  support  a  miniature  or  pendant,  or 
as  a  clasp  to  a  band  for  wearing  by  way  of  a 
bracelet  on  the  arm. 

The  great  vogue  for  dia- 
monds must  have  followed  on 
the  discovery  that  nothing 
else  shows  so  well  by  artificial 
light.  Till  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  dancing  was 
to  a  great  extent  an  outdoor 
amusement  and  carried  on  in 
the  day-time.  When  the  custom 
changed,  this  quality  of  brilliance 
brought  the  diamond  set  alone 
Miniature  with  pearl  and    ^o   the   fore,  and  it  was  some- 

diamond  frame.     Mid- 
eighteenth  century.         where    about     1770    that    they 

ceased  to   mix   coloured  stones 

with  it.     Of  course    diamonds  had   been  set  alone 

before   then.      Gilles    Egar6   and   others   had  given 

designs   for  such  pieces,  but   they  were  shown  side 

by  side  with  others,  in  which  diamonds  were  mingled 

with  coloured  gems. 

But   in  the  last  thirty  years  of  the   century  the 

fashion  was  for  diamonds  or  pearls  only,  and  all  the 

colour    was    obtained     by     enamel     or     miniature 

painting. 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        149 


The  Nineteenth  Century. 

Very  few  people,  probably,  have  ever  made  a  col- 
lection of  nineteenth-century  jewellery  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  curio-hunter.  The  period  is  too  close 
behind  us  for  one  thing,  and  for  another  it  cannot 
honestly  be  said  to  have  much  to  recommend  it  artis- 
tically. Still,  it  is  important  that  a  collector  should  be 
able  to  recognise  the  types  that  were  made,  in  order 
that  he  may  not  be  misled  into  placing  them  in  other 
periods,  especially  as  so  much  was  designed  in  a 
way  that  was  reminiscent  of  earlier  times. 

Perhaps  in  the  future  some  of  that  made  in  the 
first  half  of  the  century  may  be  sought  after  and 
prized.  Some  of  it  is  very  dainty  and  charming,  but 
now  the  very  words  "nineteenth-century  jewellery" 
seem  to  bring  before  our  eyes  a  hideous  vision  of 
hair  bracelets,  slabs  of  moss-agate  in  coarse  settings, 
and  heavy  gold  chains,  almost  massive  enough  to 
restrain  an  unruly  elephant.  Such  things  certainly 
form  a  very  large  part  of  the  ornaments  which  ap- 
pealed to  Victorian  taste,  but  also  we  find  other 
classes  of  work  which,  while  it  never  reaches  a  very 
high  standard,  yet  has  merits  of  its  own. 

It  is  in  France  that  we  must  seek  the  history  of 
the  origin  of  the  nineteenth  century  modes,  as  we 
have  of  those  of  the  eighteenth.  The  English  might 
fight  and  fear  *'  Boney,"  but,  nevertheless,  it  was  from 
across  the  Channel  that  the  fashions  came,  so  that 
we  shall  note  the  social  changes  in  France  that  led 
to  alteration  of  taste  there.     It  was  during  the  years 

8 


\ 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

1.  Early  nineteenth -century  brooch,   set  crystals.     About 

1815. 

2.  Brooch  in  milled  wire  and  grainwork  set  with  stones. 

3.  Small  mosaics  set  in  similar  work. 

4,  5  and  6.     Fave  turquoise  ear-rings.    About  1840. 

7.     Similar  bracelet,  with  the  addition  of  stamped  leaves  and 
flowers  and  cherubs'  heads. 

2,  3  and  7  belong  to  the  first  third  of  the  century. 


150 


151 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        153 

of  the  Directory,  1795-99,  that  a  different  style  of 
jewellery  began.  Out  of  it  was  afterwards  evolved 
the  style  known  as  the  Empire.  It  is,  in  a  way,  merely 
an  accentuation  of  the  taste  for  the  antique,  to  which 
during  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
pendulum  had  been  swinging  back,  as  a  recoil  from 
the  vagaries  of  the  rococo,  but  now  it  was  carried  to 
the  most  exaggerated  lengths ;  instead  of  the  refined 
severity  that  had  preceded  it  (which  was  always 
tempered  with  a  little  hint  of  a  lurking  frivolity),  we 
find  a  coldness  and  formality  of  design  which  leads 
to  poverty  of  effect.  There  was  a  great  lack  both 
of  gold  and  stones,  for  the  purpose  of  ornament. 
Either  the  emigres  had  taken  them  out  of  the 
country,  or  those  who  owned  them  were  afraid  of 
displaying  anything  which  might  tempt  the  cupidity 
of  an  enemy.  So  almost  the  only  stones  used  were 
cheap  ones,  either  such  things  as  moss-agates  and  other 
pebbles,  or  stones  cut  as  cameos  in  the  antique  style. 
These  were  mounted  in  settings  of  low-grade  gold 
and  its  substitutes,  such  as  Pinchbeck.  The  whole 
idea  of  fashionable  costume  was  to  get  as  near  the 
antique  model  as  possible.  An  elaborate  affectation 
of  classic  simplicity  led  to  ladies  appearing  in  public 
in  extraordinary  (and  somewhat  indelicate)  adapta- 
tions of  Greek  and  Roman  draperies.  Naturally  the 
sparkling  prettinesses  of  the  former  regime,  made 
to  be  worn  with  delicate  laces  and  voluminous 
brocades,  were  felt  to  be  unsuitable  for  the  exceed- 
ingly sparse  covering  in  which  the  fair  citoyennes 
chose  to  disport  themselves.  The  ornaments  of 
this   date   are  more   quaint   than   pretty,  and   their 


154        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

value  lies  more  in   their  interest  as  a  "  footnote  to 
history,"  than  in  any  particular  artistic  merit. 

It  will  no  doubt  appear  strange  that  in  such  a 
short  time  we  should  pass  from  workmanship  of  the 
very  highest  class  to  pieces  which  are,  from  a  crafts- 
man's point  of  view,  beneath  contempt,  for  it  is 
astonishing  how  thorough  the  change  was.  To  a 
certain  extent,  no  doubt,  jewellery  of  the  old  styles 
still  continued  to  be  made  for  a  time,  but  there  was 
no  great  demand  for  it  even  in  England,  for  it  was 
the  time  when  there  was  a  wave  of  feeling  in  favour 
of  "  Jacobinism  and  Equality,"  while  in  France  of 
course,  anything  that  savoured  of  the  aristocrat  was 
anathema. 

Many  of  the  best  workmen  were  scattered  to  other 
countries ;  many  had  lost  their  heads,  for  it  was  a 
dangerous  matter  to  have  served  the  aristocracy  even 
in  a  humble  capacity.  Probably  the  real  cause  lay 
in  the  fact  that  in  France  the  principle  of  apprentice- 
ship was  done  away  with  definitely  in  1791.  The 
system  had,  of  course,  led  to  many  abuses,  but  at  the 
same  time  it  did  ensure  that  before  a  man  set  up  a 
workshop  for  himself,  he  was  at  least  a  capable 
workman.  This  new  arrangement  brought  about  a 
very  different  state  of  things.  Instead  of  men  brought 
up  from  their  youth  to  the  knowledge  of  their  craft, 
and  with  traditions  of  good  workmanship  behind 
them  (amounting  sometimes  to  an  almost  religious 
reverence  for  honest  attention  to  minor  details), 
another  class  pushed  to  the  front.  The  old  workmen 
who  remained  were  unwilling  or  unable  to  carry  out 
the  new  ideas,  so  contrary  to  all  they  had  learnt  and 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        155 

taught,  and  thus  other  more  adaptable  workers  who 
had  found  the  task  of  learning  the  groundwork  of 
their  trade  thoroughly  too  great  drudgery,  were  en- 
abled to  set  up  establishments  of  their  own,  being 
unfettered  by  any  restrictions.  They  were  willing 
to  do  work  (and  to  do  it  cheaply)  in  the  new  fashion, 
and  their  workmanship  satisfied  clients  who  had  not 
been  brought  up  to  appreciate  delicate  niceties  of 
craftsmanship.  The  result  is  we  can  identify  the 
work  of  the  time  by  the  absolute  breaking  away  from 
all  previous  traditions.  A  great  deal  was  made,  but 
not  very  much  remains.  Ear-rings  were  large  and 
round,  or  consisted  of  a  simple  setting  surrounding 
glass  or  shell  cameos.  Clasps  for  the  girdle  and 
pseudo-classic  head  ornaments  were  a  special  feature. 
The  state  of  the  general  industry  in  Napoleon's 
time  was  rather  more  satisfactory,  and  the  work  is 
better  and  the  materials  used  are  often  of  the  richest. 
But  we  feel  the  lack  of  the  instinct  of  the  true  jeweller 
for  ornament.  The  jewels  of  this  period  seem  calcu- 
lated to  display  wealth  and  splendour,  rather  than  to 
accentuate  the  wearer's  beauty  or  dignity.  The  old 
firms  attempted  to  reorganise  their  workshops  on  the 
old  plan  in  order  to  carry  out  the  new  fashions,  but 
failed  to  make  headway.  The  new  firms  often  had 
considerable  knowledge  of  classical  art,  but  artistic 
taste,  however  cultured  and  refined,  is  a  poor  substitute 
in  matters  of  applied  art  for  sound  craft  knowledge. 
A  travelling  Hindu  goldsmith  knowing  nothing  out- 
side his  trade  would  be  more  likely  to  design  a  really 
beautiful  ornament  than  a  Royal  Academician  who 
knew  nothing  of  processes,  tools,  or  materials. 


156        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

Most  of  the  early  Empire  jewellery  is  made  on  the 
flat.  There  is  little  relief  or  modelling.  It  has  the 
appearance  of  having  been  cut  with  scissors  out  of 
the  sheet  and  stuck  together  in  the  required  form. 
There  was  a  certain  carefulness  about  the  execution 
but  no  imagination  about  the  designs,  for  the  orna- 
ments of  this  time  usually  consist  of  groups  of  certain 
stereotyped  details,  such  as  matted  gold,  cameos, 
strings  of  pearls,  and  chains.     Wreaths  of  laurel  in 


Empire  Comb.     Matted  gold  and  cameos. 

gold  or  enamel  are  a  frequent  feature.  These  jewels 
were  worn  in  great  quantities,  so  that  a  fashionable 
lady  was  said  to  look  like  a  walking  jeweller's  shop. 
Cameos  were  Josephine's  favourite  gems,  and  so 
they  were  naturally  very  popular ;  and  Wedgwood's 
jasper  cameos  and  shell  cameos  were  enormously 
worn,  and  continued  in  use  throughout  the  first  half 
of  the  century.  Diamonds  were  also  worn  in  con- 
siderable numbers  and  of  great  splendour  at 
Napoleon's  Court,  but  few  specimens  of  this  stone 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        157 

work  seem  to  have  survived,  as  owing  to  the  value 
of  the  diamonds  and  other  stones  the  ornaments 
have  been  broken  up  and  remodelled.  Quite  a 
number  of  less  important  pieces  in  the  Empire  style, 
however,  are  to  be  found  in  old  jewel-cases  and  the 
trinket-trays  of  provincial  jewellers.  Some  of  them 
are  decidedly  attractive  in  their  way,  though  they 
generally  want  setting  to  rights  before  they  can  be 
worn  ;  but  even  a  good  cleaning  works  wonders.   The 


Empire  Comb.      Pinchbeck,  mock  pearls, 
and  coral. 

gold  is  often  considerably  alloyed  and  tarnishes 
quickly.  The  construction  is  often  lacking  in 
solidity,  so  parts  are  often  found  bent  and. broken, 
which  have  to  be  straightened  or  replaced  before 
we  can  judge  of  the  original  effect.  Especially  with 
the  present  style  of  dress  they  maT<e  very  pretty 
ornaments.  The  most  characteristic  of  all  are 
perhaps  the  combs,  which  were  made  in  an  enor- 
mous variety  of  designs  and  formed  a  leading  feature 


158        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

of  the  head-dress.     They  were  generally  very  high, 
and    ornamented    with   cameos,   small  mosaics,  and 
mock  or  real   pearls.      Coral  was  often  introduced, 
and  a  very  charming  effect  was  obtained  by  piqu6 
ivory,  worked  in  the   way  previously  described  for 
tortoiseshell.     Pinchbeck,  horn,  ivory,  and  tortoise- 
shell,  plain  or  craved,  were  all  pressed  into  service, 
but    the    well-known    pierced    tortoiseshell    combs 
with    a    curved   top    came    later.      Necklaces    and 
bracelets   were   formed    of  the    ubiquitous   cameos 
looped  together  with  fine  chains  or  strings  of  pearls. 
Even  before  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon,  the  reign 
of  Classicism  was  on  the  wane,  and  with  his  down- 
fall it  seemed  to  come  to  an  end  somewhat  abruptly. 
Throughout   the    Empire    period,   the   large,    fairly 
cheap    stones,   such   as   peridots,   topaz,   amethysts, 
and  crystals,  had  had  a  considerable  vogue  set  in 
the  same  way  that  cameos  were  used.     Later  on,  the 
settings    became    much   more    elaborate.     Stamped 
leaves  and  flowers  of  coloured  gold,  little  domes  of 
metal  covered  with  granulations,  and  small  flowers 
of  turquoise  and  pearls  were  used  to  surround  the 
principal   stone.     Rather   superior  in   workmanship, 
and  ever  so  much  prettier  in  effect,   is  a   kind   of 
delicate  goldwork  made  entirely  without  stampings, 
of  milled -edge  wirework,  and  tiny  grains   or  beads. 
This  is  always  exquisitely  finished,  and  though  light, 
is  by  no  means  fragile.     It  is   very   frequently   set 
with   such   inexpensive  stones  as  topaz  (both  pink 
and  golden),  half  pearls,  and  small  turquoise,  and  has 
a  dainty  and    fairy-like  appearance  which,   though 
perhaps  a  little  trivial,   is  essentially   feminine  and 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        159 

very  wearable.  This  style  of  work  is  used  in  rings, 
brooches,  and  necklaces  with  centre  pendant,  which 
generally  have  ear-pendants  to  match,  but  of  course 
the  sets  are  often  broken  up.  These  dainty  though 
inexpensive  fashions  were  of  course  favoured  under 
the  Restoration  regime.  Those  who  returned  to 
Court  had  little  of  their  old  jewellery  left,  and  not 
much  money  to  buy  any  new.  The  style  of  costume 
was  quite  changed,  the  luxurious 
and  extravagant  taste  in  dress,  which 
had  prevailed  while  Josephine  set  the 
fashion,  gave  way  before  the  quieter 
taste  of  the  old  families,  who  felt 
that  their  manners  distinguished 
them  sufficiently  from  the  common 
herd,  without  the  necessity  for  ex- 
travagant expenditure,  which  they 
could  not  afford.  Probably  the 
"  grapes  were  sour  !  "  However, 
there  certainly  is  a  last  flicker  of 
eighteenth-century  grace  in  some  of  Ear-ring.   Stamped 

1  T-»  .  .  gold,     turquoise, 

these  Restoration  pieces.  and  pink  topaz. 

A  very  favourite  way  of  setting 
small  stones  was  on  heads  of  wheat,  which  were  used 
in  bunches  as  a  hair  ornament,  and  also  for  the  corsage, 
sometimes  alone  and  sometimes  in  a  bouquet  mingled 
with  field-flowers  in  coloured  gold  or  enamel.  The 
fashion  continued  for  many  years.  An  interesting 
list  is  extant  of  the  jewels  accumulated  by  Made- 
moiselle Mars,  the  celebrated  actress,  from  whom 
they  were  stolen  in  1828.  She  had  amongst  them 
eight  sprigs  of  wheat,  no  doubt  used  to  wear  in 


160        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 


the  manner  of  an  aigrette  (an  illustration  is  given 
of  a  similar  spray  in  Pinchbeck).  These  were  of 
brilliants  containing  about  five  hundred  stones.  She 
had  many  other  brilliant  ornaments  (ladies  of  the 
theatrical  profession  always  have  had  a  great  love 
for  these  valuable  stones),  but  the  bulk  of  her  orna- 
ments consisted  of  cameos,  topaz,  pale  emeralds,  and 
imitation  pearls,  which  are  invariably  mentioned  as 
being  surrounded  with  small  brilliants.  Rather  a 
pretty  fashion,  that  of  pav6  turquoise  and 
(Q^  pearls,  came  a  little  later.  This  is  a 
method  of  setting  stones  close  together, 
so  that  only  specks  of  gold  are  seen 
between  them  holding  them  in  place. 
They  rely  for  their  effect  on  the  massing 
of  the  blue  stones  or  small  pearls  and  are 
generally  made  in  somewhat  uninteresting 
designs ;  but  the  colour,  whether  blue  or 
white  shot  with  gold,  is  quite  taking,  and 
good  pieces  are  sought  after.  There  was 
a  much  later  revival  of  this  fashion,  but 
the  stones  are  generally  poor  in  colour  and 
the  setting  a  little  spiky,  as  it  is  not  well 
finished.  The  old  ones  are  generally  so  well  burnished 
down  that  the  tiny  claws  never  catch  in  anything,  such 
as  lace  or  chiffon.  About  1840,  stamped  and  engraved 
jewellery  came  in  for  general  use,  while  pieces  in 
the  manner  of  former  periods  had  a  very  great 
vogue  amongst  the  better-class  jewellers.  Some  of 
them  are  actual  copies  of  old  pieces  and  are  very 
accurate,  so  much  so  that  they  have  sometimes  been 
a  source  of  perplexity  to  experts,  but  they  generally 


Ear-ring. 

About 
1840. 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        161 

give  themselves  away  by  ignorance  of  some  detail. 
On  the  whole,  the  pieces  are  more  reminiscent  of 
the  epoch  chosen,  than  copies  of  actual  jewels. 
For  instance,  if  they  wanted  to  make  a  mediaeval 
jewel  (which  was  a  fashion  about  1835)  they  did 
not  get  a  real  piece  of  the  time  and  follow  it  in 
all  details,  but  instead  they  evolved  "out  of  their 
inner  consciousness "  something  that  they  thought 
such  a  jewel  might  have  been,  but  never  was. 
They  took  details  from  architecture,  iron  work, 
embroidery,  anything  but  jewellery,  and  of  course 
the  result  would  have  considerably  surprised  a 
mediaeval  goldsmith.  The  Renaissance  was  treated 
the  same  way,  but  also  excellent  copies  were  made 
as  well ;  and  the  modes  of  Louis  XV.  and  Louis  XVL 
were  also  imitated,  sometimes  very  accurately,  but 
more  often  falling  far  short  of  the  daintiness  of 
the  originals. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  century  there  had 
been  workers  who  despised  the  general  half-hearted 
attempts  to  copy  the  Greek  style,  and  determined, 
if  it  were  possible,  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  the 
secret  of  the  exquisitely  fine  workmanship  dis- 
played in  Greek  filigree.  They  did  not,  perhaps, 
entirely  succeed,  but  they  did  make  a  series  of 
wonderful  copies  which  easily  might  be  mistaken 
by  any  one  but  an  expert  for  original  pieces  of 
ancient  workmanship.  The  history  of  this  revival 
is  a  most  interesting  one,  as  the  workers  were 
faced  by  extreme  difficulties.  They  were  not  enough 
to  daunt  Fortunato  Pio  Castellan!,  who  studied  the 
question   deeply  and   was  also   to  a  certain  extent 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

Copy  by  Signer  Alexander  Castellani  after  the  Greek  original  found 
in  the  larger  of  the  two  tumuli,  called  the  "  Blitznitsi,"  on  the 
island  of  Taman,  territory  of  Phanagoria,  Southern  Russia,  and 
now  in  the  Hermitage  Museum,  St.  Petersburg. 


162 


108 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        165 

helped  by  good  fortune.      It  was  thought   that  the 
method   had   been   entirely  lost,  but  he  succeeded 
in  finding  a  few  village  workmen  at  St.  Angelo  in 
Vado,   who  appeared    to    have   some  remnants   of 
knowledge  of  the  old  style.     He  brought  some  of 
them  to  Rome,  and  he  and  his  sons  worked  with 
them,   till   they  succeeded   in   reproducing  the   old 
effects.     Whether  they  arrived  at  them  by  the  old 
method   is   quite   another   question,  and   very   hard 
to  decide,  as  of  course  no  documentary  evidence  of 
the  Etruscan  methods  has  been  preserved.     In   his 
experiments,  instead   of  using  borax  for  a  flux  he 
substituted  an  arseniate  and  reduced  the  solder  to 
an  impalpable  dust  with  a  file.     His  business  was 
carried  on  by  a  son,  and  another  son  made  the  beau- 
tiful collection   of  Europe  peasant  jewellery  which 
may  be  seen  at  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  he  found  that  intelligent 
workwomen  were  better  fitted  to  accomplish  the  very 
delicate   parts   of  the   work   than   men   goldsmiths. 
This  style  of  Greek  jewellery  has  been  kept  up  ever 
since,  more  or  less,  but  it  is  usually  much  coarser 
and  altogether  clumsier  than  these  beautiful  Castel- 
lani   copies.     There  are  quantities  of  reproductions 
to  be  obtained  in  Rome,  and  indeed  throughout  Italy. 
They  are  sometimes  attempted  to  be  passed  off  as 
originals,  and  may  be  even  actually  seen  dug  out  of  the 
earth  just  as  the  tourist  "  happens  "  to  pass  by.   This 
is  of  course  a  matter  of  arrangement  with  a  guide, 
driver,  or  hotel  keeper,  on  the  part  of  the  wily  digger, 
so  those  who  do  not   feel   really  qualified  to  judge 
will  be  wise  not  to  believe  in  such  "  finds,"  or  they 


166        CHATS  ON   OLD  JEWELLERY 

may  find  themselves  in  much  the  same  position 
as  the  tourist  who  bought  a  mummy  in  Egypt,  and 
having  accidentally  broken  it  on  the  return  journey 
found,  to  his  indignation,  that  it  was  stuffed  with 
a  Birmingham  newspaper  of  the  previous  year.  This 
taste  for  Greek  effects  was  not  without  its  influence 
on  much  nineteenth-century  design,  especially  before 
1850. 

Hair  jewellery  was  a  very  usual  way  of  com- 
memorating a  dear  departed  or  making  a  gift  to 
lover  or  friend.  Chains,  rings,  and  bracelets  were 
made  out  of  it,  and  one  wishes  they  had  not  proved 
so  unexpectedly  strong  and  lasting.  It  is  generally 
exceedingly  ugly,  and,  but  that  one  has  ceased  to 
be  surprised  at  the  depressing  hideousness  of  the 
time,  one  would  wonder  at  the  possibility  of  any 
one  ever  finding  anything  pleasing  in  such  things. 

The  iron  jewellery  is  an  interesting  study  in  itself, 
though  one  cannot  call  it  beautiful.  It  is  entirely 
different  from  the  steel  work  which  was  introduced 
earlier,  and  was  also  used  contemporaneously  with 
it.  It  consists  of  exquisitely  fine  castings  after  most 
intricate  designs,  entirely  carried  out  in  iron.  It 
was  made  at  a  time  when  gold  was  scarce,  having 
been  used  up  in  the  wars.  Some  of  the  pieces  were 
given  by  the  Prusssian  Government  to  those  ladies 
who  gave  up  their  jewels  for  the  sake  of  the  Father- 
land.    Hoch  to  them  and  to  all  other  patriotic  souls  ! 


PROVINCIAL 
JEWELLERY 


CHAPTER  V 

PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY 

The  title  given  to  this  chapter  is  "  Provincial 
Jewellery  "  rather  than  "  Peasant  Jewellery,"  because 
in  many  cases  these  ornaments  belonged  to  people 
who  were  certainly  above  what  we  generally  mean 
by  peasants.  "  National "  might  perhaps  have  been 
used,  but  then  certain  types  extend  over  large  areas 
independently  of  the  boundaries  of  the  countries, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  some  kinds  are  peculiar 
not  only  to  a  district  but  even  to  a  town.  So  that 
the  jewellery  treated  of  here  includes  those  types 
which  have  been  more  or  less  fixed  and  did  not 
change  greatly  under  the  influence  of  waves  of 
fashion.  They  are  peculiar  to  a  place  and  not  to 
a  time. 

It  is  curious  why  the  jewellery  of  a  particular 
district  should,  as  it  were,  have  crystallised  into  a 
certain  style  at  a  particular  period  and  continued 
to  be  made  in  that  way  ever  since.  Why  should  the 
peasant  jewellery  of  the  southern  part  of  France 
show  the  painted  enamel  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  have  retained  also  a  certain  general  resemblance 
to  the  designs  of  that   period,  while  a  great  deal 

9  169 


170        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 


of  that  characteristic  of  the  Austrian  peasant  is 
almost  exactly  similar  to  that  of  the  Byzantine 
style  ?  It  is  a  most  curious  and  interesting  study, 
for  some  of  these  traditional  designs  can  trace  their 
pedigree  back  to  the  ancient  Egyptians.  Adriatic 
or  Venetian  enamels,  again,  bear  quite  a  family 
resemblance  to  those  of  Russia.  Again,  why  should 
England  have  no  characteristic  ornament,  while  the 
Scotch  have  their  Luckenbooth  and  other  brooches  ? 
Professor  Haberlandt  includes  English  cut-steel 
work  among  "  peasant  jewellery," 
but  it  was  as  much  used  in  France 
as  England,  and  was  made  for  the 
fashionable  classes.  Perhaps  the 
most  distinctively  English  work 
is  found  among  the  "  Memento 
Mori "  brooches,  rings,  &c.,  pre- 
viously described. 

Everywhere,  except  perhaps  in 
Holland  and  some  parts  of  Italy, 
the  custom  of  making  the  orna- 
ments in  the  traditional  way  has 
died  out,  and  they  are  not  nearly  as  much  worn  as 
they  were  formerly.  Hideous  modern  dress  in  many 
places  has  replaced  the  picturesque  native  costume, 
and  the  ornaments,  formerly  the  pride  and  joy  of 
the  owner,  are  sold  to  a  collector  or  for  a  museum. 
In  Normandy  one  seldom  sees  any  characteristic 
work  now.  I  asked  a  friend  on  the  spot  to  obtain 
for  me  some  specimens  or  photographs  of  peasant 
jewellery  now  in  use,  but  she  wrote  that  in  the  part 
where  she  was  nothing  of  the  kind  was  worn  by  the 


Luckenbooth  Brooches. 


PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY  171 

people  but  cheap,  tawdry  ornaments,  obviously  made 
in  Birmingham.  However,  Breton  peasants  do  still 
wear  their  national  dress  and  jewellery  in  country 
districts  to  a  certain  extent,  and  so  do  Norwegians  ; 
while  in  Holland  it  is  still  largely  worn  not  only  by 
the  quite  peasant  classes,  but  by  those  of  a  superior 
position,  especially  on  festive  occasions.  They 
are  most  averse  from  parting  with  any  of  it,  but 
wily  villagers  who  are  seen  wearing  fine  old  sets 
have  been  known  to  possess  a  second  set  of  modern 
manufacture,  which  they  try  to  pass  off  on  unwary 
travellers  as  having  been  in  their  family  for  genera- 
tions. I  have  heard  of  one  case  in  which  the  im- 
posture was  most  cleverly  carried  out. 

The  originals  were  carefully  examined  and  were 
undoubtedly  old.  A  good  price  was  offered,  but  the 
owner  shilly-shallied  about  parting  with  them, 
delaying  for  one  reason  or  another.  Finally  the 
would-be  purchaser  said,  "  Well,  you  may  take  my 
offer  or  not.  I  am  leaving  to-morrow  first  thing, 
so  you  will  not  get  another  chance."  Late  that 
night  the  ornaments  were  brought  to  the  hotel, 
and  after  a  cursory  inspection  by  artificial  light,  the 
money  was  paid.  It  was  only  on  examining  them 
on  returning  to  England  that  the  imposture  was 
discovered.  The  copies  were  good  on^s,  but 
quite  modern,  and  must  have  been  made  with  the 
intention  to  deceive.  Probably  that  simple  Dutch- 
woman earns  a  nice  little  sum  in  the  course  of  the 
year !  She  is  very  likely  only  an  agent  for  some 
dealer,  who  finds  it  easy  thus  to  entrap  travellers 
without    implicating    himself.      The    fraud    would, 


PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY.      NORMAN-FRENCH 

Pendant   cross  with   locket.      Branched   open  work   with  bossed 

and  ridged  ornaments  of  crystals.     From  Normandy. 
Silver-gilt    open-work    pendant    set    with    plain    pastes.      From 

Normandy. 
E^r-ring.     Silver-gilt   of)en-work   pendant   set   with  plain  pastes. 

From  Normandy. 
Characteristic  jewel  from  Rouen.     Silver  open  work  decorated  in 

plain    pastes.      The    branch   which   the  dove   carries   is    in 

coloured  pastes. 
Pendant  cross  and  locket.     Gold  open  work  traced  with  bossed 

ornaments  of  small  crystals.     From  Rouen. 
Silver  open-work  pendant  set  with  plain  pastes.     From  Normandy. 


172 


173 


PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY  175 

even  if  discovered  in  time,  be  very  difficult  to  bring 
home ;  the  woman  would  of  course  maintain  that 
they  were  the  same  pieces  all  the  time — an  asser- 
tion hard  to  disprove. 

Italian  ornaments  are  now  much  more  stereotyped 
than  formerly,  when  each  district  had  a  type  of 
its  own,  and  the  varieties  were  very  numerous  and 
frequently  most  interesting  and  artistic. 

It  is  impossible  to  deal  with  all  the  different  kinds 
of  national  jewellery,  as  even  within  the  boundaries 
of  one  country  differences  exist  between  that  of  one 
province  and  another.  One  of  the  most  generally 
admired  kinds  in  Norman  French,  which  is  composed 
of  a  kind  of  filigree  set  with  small  crystals.  The 
most  ordinary  shape  of  the  pendants  is  based  on  a 
cross,  but  in  many  cases  one  would  hardly  recog- 
nise the  fact  unless  one  knew  what  it  was  intended 
to  represent.  The  bottom  member  of  the  cross 
is  very  generally  hinged  on  as  a  hanging  pendant, 
just  below  the  middle.  The  design  of  the  filigree 
is  generally  based  distantly  on  a  floral  pattern, 
and  florets  made  out  of  loops  of  the  filigree  wire  and 
somewhat  attenuated  leaves  can  be  recognised.  The 
stones,  which  are  really  small  crystals  collected  in 
local  rivers  (the  same  kinds  are  also  found  in  Ireland 
and  other  countries)  are  generally  set  in  clusters 
or  groups  on  the  top  of  a  high  setting.  The  metal 
work  is  of  gold,  silver-gilt,  or  plain  silver.  They  are 
still  made  for  sale  as  souvenirs,  but  -the  new  ones, 
besides  being  of  inferior  workmanship,  lack  the 
charm  of  individuality  which  was  so  conspicuous  a 
feature  in  the  old  work,  when  each   piece  differed 


FLEMISH,    RUSSIAN,    AND   TURKISH 

I,  4  and  5.     Russian  crosses  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

2.  Pendant  in  three  parts,  of  gold  open  work  set  with  large 

and  small  diamonds.  The  large  stones  have  high 
gold  settings  on  a  milgriffe  base.  The  smaller  ones 
in  the  middle  of  the  flowers  are  set  in  silver. 
Flemish.     Early  eighteenth  century. 

3.  Pendant  in   the   form   of  a  crowned   heart.     Silver-gilt 

filigree  set  with   small   diamonds.      From   Bruges. 
Eighteenth  or  early  nineteenth  century. 
6.     Turkish  clasp  of  filigree  with  applied  platework. 


1T6 


m 


PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY  179 

in  detail  though  preserving  the  general  character. 
Copies  are  often  for  sale  in  London  curio-shops. 
They  are  well  made,  but  nowadays  the  inspiration 
is  lost,  and  though  a  clever  workman  can  copy 
a  set  pattern  well  enough,  the  result  is  not  con- 
vincing. Closely  akin  in  some  points  to  the  general 
Norman  French  work  is  that  which  is  particularly 
characteristic  of  Rouen.  The  general  character 
is  that  of  filigree  of  gold,  or  silver-gilt,  closely 
set  with  small  pastes,  sometimes  coloured.  The 
especial  feature  being  the  Saint  Esprit,  or  Holy 
Dove,  which  hangs  as  a  pendant  from  the  main 
ornament.  The  bird  is  generally  composed  of 
small  stones  closely  massed  together,  and  it  carries 
in  its  beak  a  sprig  or  wreath  of  foliage  which  is  often 
set  with  coloured  pastes.  When  old  ones  are  found 
they  are  charming,  but  they  are  very  scarce,  and 
modern  copies  are  made. 

There  is  some  difference  in  the  technique  of  Flemish 
or  Belgian  ornaments,  but  they  have  a  general  resem- 
blance to  those  of  the  Norman  workmanship.  The 
filigree  is  composed  of  good  stout  strip  wire,  of  gold 
or  silver,  in  somewhat  similar  designs.  The  flower 
ornaments  are  cut  out  of  sheet  silver  and  mounted  in 
relief  over  the  general  surface  of  filigree  work.  They 
are  set  with  a  small  rose  diamond  in  a  close  setting, 
riveted  through  the  centre  of  the  flower.  Leaf-like 
ornaments  with  a  small  diamond  inlet  are  a  char- 
acteristic feature.  The  principal  stones  are  often 
table-cut  or  even  quite  flat,  with  facets  only  on  the 
inner  surface.  The  high  settings  of  the  large  stones 
are  mounted  on  a  kind  of  rosette,  engraved  or  other- 


ITALIAN  PEARL-WORK  EAR-RINGS 

1.  Ear-ring.     Gold.     Escutcheon-shaped  pendant  of  seed  pearls  and 

of  green  stones  called  Luciane.  Nineteenth  century.  From 
Naples. 

2.  Ear-ring.     Gold.     Disc  of  seed  pearls  with  ten  pendant  strings  of 

pearls.     From  Secondigliano.     Nineteenth  century. 

3.  Ear-ring.     Gold.     Top  of  five  leaves  in  seed  pearls;  pendant  in 

seed  pearls  and  filigree.     Procida.     Nineteenth  century. 

4.  Ear-ring  in  gold.     Top,  a  disc  of  pearls  and  seed  pearls  with  a 

red  stone  in  the  centre  ;  the  pendant,  three  similar  discs 
with  two  wing-shaped  masses  of  pearls.  Pozzuoli.  Nine- 
teenth century. 

5.  Ear-rings  in  seed  pearls  and  filigree.     Nineteenth  century. 

6.  Ear-ring  in  seed  pearls  and  green  stones.     Pozzuoli. 


180 


181 


PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY  183 

wise  marked  with  numerous  lines.  The  stones  are 
practically  always  real  in  old  specimens.  A  crowned 
heart  is  a  favourite  design. 

Italy  boasts  the  utmost  variety  of  peasant  jewellery. 
One  has  a  difficulty  in  knowing  where  to  begin.  The 
poorer  classes  have  had  their  special  ornaments  for  a 
long  time,  as  the  following  quotation  from  Cellin 
(Asbee's  translation)  shows :  "  I  mind  me  also  of 
having  seen  rubies  and  emeralds  made  double,  like 
red  and  green  crystals  stuck  together,  the  stone  being 
in  two  pieces,  and  their  usual  name  is  'doppie,'  or 
doublets.  These  false  stones  are  made  in  Milan,  set 
in  silver,  and  are  much  in  vogue  among  the  peasant 
folk.  The  ingenuity  of  man  has  devised  them  to  satisfy 
the  wants  of  these  poor  people  when  they  wish  to 
make  presents  at  wedding  ceremonies  and  so  forth, 
to  their  wives,  who  of  course  don't  know  any  difference 
between  the  real  and  the  sham  stones,  and  whom  the 
little  deceit  makes  very  happy." 

There  is  a  certain  likeness  to  French  and  Flemish 
work  in  the  open-work  set  with  garnet  or  pastes 
which  comes  from  Avellino.  The  method  of  making 
is,  however,  different.  In  this  case  the  open-work, 
instead  of  being  built  up  out  of  pieces  of  wire,  is 
fretted  and  engraved  out  of  sheet,  but  the  inspiration 
is  evidently  the  same.  Particularly  interesting  is  the 
seed-pearl  work  from  Pozzuoli  and  other  neighbour- 
ing places.  The  tiny  beads  strung  on  hair  or  metal 
wire  are  coiled  and  arranged  so  as '  to  form  very 
attractive  patterns.  Pastes  and  coloured  stones  of 
various  kinds  are  used  to  give  relief  of  colour,  and 
the  result  is  very  uncommon  and  pleasing.     Filigree 


ADRIATIC  EAR-RINGS 

A  most  beautiful  ear-ring  in  the  form  of  a  ship.  The  walls  of 
the  cloisons  are  partly  of  ribbon  wire,  partly  of  twisted  wire. 
The  little  flag  at  the  stern  moves  on  its  staff,  and  the  bunches 
of  grapes  of  small  pearls  are  doubly  hinged,  so  that  the  fullest 
advantage  is  taken  of  the  decorative  value  of  movement  for 
ear-rings.     Sixteenth  century. 

Pendants  for  ear-rings  hung  with  pearls.  They  were  originally 
enamelled.    Venetian.     Late  sixteenth  century. 

Venetian  ear-rings  in  enamel  and  small  pearls. 


184 


135 


PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY  187 

wire  work  mixed  with  plate  work  in  gold  is  also  a 
feature  of  some  districts  ;  it  is  generally  rather  tame 
and  uninteresting.  One  of  the  most  interesting  sur- 
vivals is  to  be  found  in  what  is  known  as  Adriatic 
jewellery.  It  is  supposed  to  be  the  result  of  the 
traditions  handed  down  by  the  descendants  of  the 
Venetian  jewellers  and  enamellers  of  the  Renaissance 
period.  The  old  work  consists  of  a  metal  ground- 
work, sometimes  enamelled  by  the  cloisonn6  method. 
The  wires  are  frequently  plain  round  or  ribbon  shape, 
but  twisted  wire  is  also  used.  The  work  is  often  very 
good.  The  stones  used  are  generally  pearls,  which 
are  pierced  and  fixed  by  means  of  wires. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  particularly  charming 
ornaments  used  to  be  worn  by  the  peasants  of 
Brescia,  which  were  made  locally.  It  seems  as  if 
this  part  of  Italy  inspires  its  inhabitants  with  a  kind 
of  genius  for  the  jeweller's  craft.  This  special  variety 
consists  of  painted  enamel  on  plaques  linked  together 
with  charmingly  worked  chains. 

There  is  a  kind  of  turquoise  jewellery  made  at 
Florence,  generally  in  the  form  of  "  fleurs-de-lis," 
which  one  sometimes  sees  among  other  oddments  in 
jewellers'  shops.  Such  things  have  no  value  beyond 
being  pretty  trinkets,  as  they  are  extremely  cheap  to 
buy  in  Italy.  The  stones  are  very  flat,  small  pnes,  of 
inferior  colour.     They  are  generally  set  in  silver-gilt. 

Scandinavian  jewellery  is  quite  diflerent  in  character, 
though  filigree  takes  a  considerable  pleice  among  the 
methods  of  adornment.  The  bridal  crowns  are  often 
splendid  examples  of  the  rich  effect  obtained  by 
simple   means.     These  ornaments  are  often  of  un- 


NORWEGIAN 

1 .  Circular  brooch  in  open  filigree. 

2.  Circular  brooch  in  conventional  foliated  design  in  wirework. 

3.  Circular  brooch.     Three  of  the  bosses  have  double-headed  eagles 

and  three  of  them  have  winged  dragons.     On  the  pin  is  the 
Blessed  Virgin  and  child. 

4.  Pendant  of  silver-gilt  set  with  pastes  and  garnets.     Seventeenth 

century. 

5.  Buttons  decorated  in  shotwork. 

6.  Silver-gilt  circular  brooch  with  wirework  ornamentation. 


188 


IS'J 


PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY  191 

known  age,  as  they  are  kept  in  the  family  and  handed 
on  from  generation  to  generation,  only  being  used 
when  a  daughter  or  a  son  is  married.  One  can 
imagine  that  sometimes  there  may  have  been  a  little 
friction  as  to  which  crown  should  be  used — that 
belonging  to  the  family  of  the  bride  or  to  that  of  the 
bridegroom — when  both  possessed  them.  If  neither 
had  one,  they  used  that  which  was  kept  in  the  church 
for  the  benefit  of  the  parish. 

The  bodice  fasteners  through  which  the  laces 
passed  were  often  very  pretty,  being  adorned  with 
embossed  work  and  pastes.  These  northern  people, 
though  thrifty,  had  seldom  very  much  money  to 
spare  on  personal  adornments,  so  we  find  most  of  the 
charm  of  these  things  arises  rather  from  the  naive  and 
direct  workmanship  than  from  the  material,  as  real 
stones  and  gold  are  seldom  used,  but  silver-gilt  and 
rather  coarse  pastes  or  amber  are  substituted.  There 
is  very  little  trace  of  old  Scandinavian  motives  to  be 
discovered  among  them,  a  conventional  floral  pattern 
or  simple  geometrical  design  being  more  usual.  In 
the  earlier  pieces  the  designs  are  worked  in  actual 
filigree  ;  the  latter  usually  consist  of  simple  repouss6 
or  stamped  work  of  floral  character,  following  some- 
what the  old  patterns.  A  considerable  amount  of 
jewellery  is  now  made  in  Sweden  and  Norway, 
in  which  enamel  and  gold  or  silver-gilt  are  carefully 
worked  into  delicate  and  pretty  designs.  They  are  so 
quaint  that  people  think  they  must  be  old.  But 
though  interesting  ornaments  they  are  of  no  value 
to  the  collector. 

In  various  parts  of  Germany  peasant  ornaments 


SWEDISH  AND  NORTH  GERMAN 

1.  Hooks.     Silver  parcel-gilt  embossed  with  heart  at  ends. 

From  Albo  district.     Early  nineteenth  century. 

2.  Hook  for  jacket.     Silver-gilt  leaf  shape,  ornamented  with 

filigree  and  imitation  stones.  From  Ingelstad,  in 
the  province  of  Skane.     About  1830. 

3.  Brooch  of  silver  parcel-gilt.     The   filigree  ornament  is 

riveted  on  to  the  smooth  background.  It  is  set 
with  coloured  glass.  From  Vierlande,  a  district  on 
the  Elbe,  near  Hamburg.     Early  nineteenth  century. 

4.  Heart-shaped    brooch    similar    to    Scotch    Luckenbooth 

brooches.     German.     1856. 
5,  6  and  7.     Hook  or  eyelets  for  lacing  bodice.     Embossed  silver  set 
with  pastes.     From  Ingelstad.     About  1840. 
8.     Buttons  of  silver  filigree.     About  1830. 


192 


193 


PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY  195 

are  still  made  and  worn,  very  often  much  resembling 
the  types  used  in  Scandinavia.  The  kind  of  filigree 
fastened  over  a  smooth  plate  of  burnished  metal  is 
common  to  Sweden,  Norway,  Finland,  and  the  North 
of  Germany,  the  technique  being  practically  identical. 
The  filigree  work  is  also  very  similar  to  that  of 
Norway,  though  perhaps  of  a  rather  slighter  character. 
Strings  of  beads,  especially  of  amber,  are  characteristic 
of  the  northern  districts.  In  the  parts  where  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion  prevails,  rosaries  with  beauti- 
fully carved  beads  and  crucifixes  are  still  made  by 
the  people  themselves. 

The  most  interesting  of  the  Spanish  jewellery  is 
that  made  at  Cordolova,  of  a  kind  of  filigree  in  the 
old  Moorish  style.  Some  quaint  jewellery  of  gold 
and  seed-pearls  were  made  at  Salamanca,  There  is 
an  excellent  collection  of  these  peasant  ornaments  at 
the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  It  was  most 
fortunate  that  it  was  obtained  when  it  was  (in  the 
first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century),  as  it  would  have 
been  quite  impossible  later  to  have  got  so  complete  a 
collection,  as  the  majority  of  the  people  have  given 
up  wearing  them  and  now  seldom  have  anything 
more  interesting  than  a  string  of  beads  or  a  crucifix, 
and  one  only  finds  a  few  scattered  pieces  here  and 
there.  For  genuine  specimens  a  good  price  will  have 
to  be  paid.  Spanish  ear-rings  are  very  large  and 
elaborate,  often  consisting  of  several  parts  hinged 
together  and  set  with  faceted  stones  or  pastes. 
Silver,  stamped  in  imitation  of  cut  stones,  has  a 
brilliant  effect,  and  glass  cut  and  silvered  like  looking- 
glass  has  much  the  effect  of  paste.     A  long  centre 


PROVINCIAL  ITALIAN  AND  SPANISH 

Reliquary.     Brass  champleve  enamel,  black  and  white.     About 

1500, 
Ear    pendant.      Gold    set    with    emeralds;    traditional    pattern. 

Second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.     Spanish. 
Neapolitan  ear-ring  in  silver-gilt  and  pearls  and  garnets.     Eigh- 
teenth century. 
Child's   bauble.      Probably  for    a    Bambino.      Silver.     A   neriad 

holding  a  mirror  and  comb,  attached  to  a  whistle  and  hung 

with  bells.     Spanish. 
Ear-ring.     Gold.     Large  foliated  ornamental  disc,  set  with  garnets, 

with   buckle-shaped   ornament   of  similar  work,  from  which 

hang  three  pendants.     Avellino.     Nineteenth  century. 
Filigree-work  medallion.     Gold.     From  the  Neapolitan  provinces. 

Nineteenth  century. 
Medallion.     Silver-gilt.     Star-shaped  open  work  of  coiled  ribbon 

wire.     Italian. 
Curious  hairpin.     At  one  end  a  hand  holding  a  flower.     From 

Sorrento.     Nineteenth  century. 


196 


197 


PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY  199 

pendant  with  two  smaller  ones  each  side  is  a  usual 
pattern.  Old  Spanish  paste  is  generally  of  very 
effective  design,  though  perhaps  rather  heavy,  as  the 
"  stones  "  are  often  massed  closely  together. 

Russia  shows  in  most  of  its  jewellery  the  influence 
of  the  Byzantine  style  of  ecclesiastical  art,  which  is 
still  the  only  one  recognised  by  the  Greek  Church. 
Neck  pendants  often  contain  small  pictures  and 
crucifixes.  Copies  of  ancient  design  are  now  made 
exactly  resembling  the  old  ones.  They  are  probably 
cast  from  an  antique  model.  The  most  characteristic 
features  are  the  enamel  work  known  as  the  wire 
enamel  (often  painted  within  its  twisted  wire  cfells), 
and  a  considerable  use  of  pearls,  turquoise,  and 
garnets  set  together  with  a  very  rich  effect,  about 
which  there  is  a  strong  flavour  of  the  Oriental.  The 
turquoise  can  be  bought  very  cheaply  at  the  fair 
of  Nijni  Novgorod,  where  also  the  rough  .pearls 
are  obtained,  and  the  garnets  are  both  native  and 
are  also  imported  in  quantity.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  these  very  stones  were  the  favourites  of 
our  Teutonic  ancestors  when  they  migrated  from 
their  "  vague  region  somewhere  north  of  the  Black 
Sea." 

Enamelling  also  appeals  to  the  somewhat  Oriental 
taste  of  the  Russians,  as  it  enables  colour  to  be 
introduced  easily  and  cheaply,  and  also  in  a  greater 
variety  than  where  only  stones  are  used.  The  style 
of  ornamentation  is  not  based  on  an  imitation  of 
stone  work,  but  rather  it  seems  to  originate  in  the 
filigree  (which  probably  preceded  it),  being  filled 
in  with  enamel,  which  involved  only  a  very  slight 

10 


200        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

difference  in  either  design  or  technique.  The  best 
specimens  are  scarce  and  valuable,  dating  from  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  Niello  is  also 
much  used  at  the  present  day,  especially  in  the 
southern  districts,  where  there  is  quite  a  trade  in 
manufacturing  quaint  ornaments  as  gifts  and 
souvenirs.     They  are  pretty  but  of  small  value. 

The  Austrian  peasants  had  a  real  genius  for 
producing,  out  of  the  simple  materials  available  to 
them,  pieces  of  really  exquisite  taste  and  workman- 
ship. They  were  made  by  the  ordinary  villagers, 
who  all  seem  to  have  possessed  a  natural  aptitude  for 
artistic  work.  The  women  embroidered  beautifully  ; 
and  out  of  silver  wire,  tinsel,  and  horn  the  men 
made  charming  ornaments  for  their  sweethearts  and 
wives.  It  seems  almost  impossible  that  the  imme- 
diate descendants  of  these  real  artists  could  not 
only  cease  to  make  their  own  ornaments,  but  wear 
and  actually  prefer  the  common  machine  -  made 
things,  which  are  all  modern  civilisation  has  to  offer 
in  their  place.  But  so  it  is.  Fashion  is  a  stern 
master,  and  before  we  blame  these  villagers  we  must 
look  at  home,  and  make  sure  that  our  own  house 
is  not  of  glass  before  we  throw  stones.  I  do  not 
suppose  there  is  any  one  brave  enough  to  dare 
to  walk  down  Piccadilly  in  his  great-grandfather's 
coat  and  breeches,  be  the  satin  ever  so  rich  or  the 
embroidery  of  the  most  exquisite  !  A  woman  might 
come  out  in  her  grandmother's  gown  and  pass 
muster,  but  she  dare  not  appear  in  one  of  twenty 
years  ago.  We  are  all  slaves  in  one  way  or  other. 
It  is,  however,  good  to   know  that   some  of  these 


PROVINCIAL  JEWELLERY  201 

pieces    are    being  carefully   preserved   in   a  special 
museum  of  Peasant  Art. 

Hungary  has  a  particularly  fine  class  of  national 
jewellery  which,  though  it  partakes  somewhat  of 
the  general  style  of  other  European  enamels  of  the 
later  Renaissance,  yet  has  a  character  of  its  own, 
owing  to  the  strong  touch  of  Oriental  feeling  which 
is  engrafted  on  to  it.  Much  of  this  jewellery  dates 
from  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  and  is 
carried  out  in  many  varieties  of  enamel,  besides 
the  usual  encrusted  kind.  Some,  for  instance,  is 
done  in  a  kind  of  painted  cloisonn6,  in  which  the 
colour,  after  being  placed  into  the  cells,  was  varied  by 
pencilling  of  other  colours.  Sometimes  the  design 
is  of  leaves  and  flowers,  in  which  case  they  have  the 
ground  enamel  of  the  general  tone,  and  the  effect 
is  enhanced  by  further  tints  showing  the  natural 
colours.  Masses  of  white,  or  other  opaque  enamel, 
were  also  broken  up  with  dots  and  lines  of  black, 
red,  and  other  colours.  There  was  more  of  the 
built-up  goldsmith's  work  in  this  kind  of  ornament 
than  is  ordinary  in  other  enamelled  jewellery  of  the 
period,  owing  to  its  being  based  on  filigree ;  grains 
of  gold  and  twists  of  wire  often  form  prominent 
features  in  the  design.  The  pendant  stones  hanging 
from  some  of  the  jewels  have  curious  settings  with 
serrated  bases.  Copies  of  this  work  have  been  largely 
made.  They  are  mainly  in  silver-gilt,  and  are  often 
cast  where  the  originals  would  be  wrought.  They 
are  generally  set  with  pastes  and  small  baroque  pearls. 
There  are  very  few  real  examples  in  this  country, 
but  the  imitations  have  been  rather  largely  imported 


202 


CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 


by  shops  who  make  a  feature  of  quaint  jewellery. 
They  are  pretty,  and  have  a  fair  amount  of  handwork 
about  them,  so  they  are  rather  deceptive,  but  will 
not  bear  comparison  with  the  originals.  The 
imitations  are  rarely  made  in  gold,  and  show  little 
delicacy  of  execution. 

Turkish  work,  as  is  to  be 
expected,  shows  more  of  the 
Oriental  character  than  other 
European  jewellery.  It  has 
all  the  Oriental  faults  with- 
out its  excellences,  and  it  is 
seldom  of  any  importance, 
as  there  does  not  seem  to 
be  any  rich  store  of  craft 
tradition  among  the  work- 
men, and  it  is  generally 
flimsy  and  somewhat  tawdry. 
It  is  often  in  those  ornaments 
made  for  the  richer  classes 
merely  an  excuse  for  the 
display  of  conglomerations  of 
precious  stones.  The  jewellery  of  the  people  is 
generally  of  filigree  adorned  with  pastes  and  coloured 
glass.  Inscriptions  in  decorative  characters  are  a 
frequent  feature,  and  add  considerably  to  the 
dignity  of  the  pieces,  which  otherwise  are  generally 
trivial. 


Part  of  Clasp.     Turkish. 


VI 

ORIENTAL 
JEWELLERY 


INDIAN  AND  PERSIAN 

1 .  Necklace  from  Indore  set  with  diamonds,  pearls,  and  emeralds. 

2.  Ear-rings.     Composed  of  two  gold  domes  enamelled  with  flowers 

and  fringed  with  rows  of  seed  pearls  and  gold  leaves.     Persian. 

3.  Tooshee  necklace,  richly  jewelled,  from  Rattenpore. 


aoi 


205 


CHAPTER  VI 

ORIENTAL  JEWELLERY 

Indian  Jewellery. — When  we  see  a  large  collection  of 
Indian  jewellery  we  are  at  once  struck  with  the 
wonderful  effect  of  richness,  both  of  colour  and  orna- 
ment. There  is  a  freedom  and  profusion  about  it 
which  strikes  quite  a  different  note  from  the  restraint 
that  is  displayed  in  almost  all  European  jewellery, 
except  such  as  shows  strong  Oriental  influence. 
There  is  a  general  appearance  that  gold  and-  gems, 
even  as  silver  in  Solomon's  time,  "are  nothing 
accounted,"  they  are  apparently  so  carelessly  and 
lavishly  used.  But  when  we  examine  more  closely 
we  shall  often  find  that  much  of  this  display  is 
obtained  by  the  utmost  skill  in  making  a  very  little 
metal  go  a  very  long  way,  and  that  the  stones  used 
in  such  quantities  are,  to  European  notions,  faulty 
and  flawed.  We  may  even  think  the  design  in  some 
respects  childish  and  trivial.  But  still  further  and 
deeper  knowledge  will  bring,  most  probably,  an 
intense  admiration  for  the  consummate  mastery  of 
material,  and  we  shall  recognise  that  the  designs  are, 
when  we  consider  their  purpose,  as  near  perfect  as  it 

is  possible  to  get.    It  is  so  easy  to  recognise  for  what 

an 


208        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

purpose  they  are  intended  :  an  ear-ring  is  obviously 
meant  to  hang — its  particular  beauties  would  show 
themselves  in  no  other  position  but  in  the  ear ;  the 
turban  ornament  proclaims  itself  at  once  as  such  ; 
and  with  each  object  it  is  the  same.  We  cannot 
imagine  a  design  for  one  of  these  pieces  being  labelled 
"  Design  for  a  brooch  or  neck-pendant,  or  would  also 
do  for  embroidery ^^  as  the  inscription  under  a  modern 
English  "  art "  design  runs !  The  jewellers  who  make 
these  things  simply  think  in  gold  and  gems.  From 
father  to  son  the  traditions  of  craftsmanship  have 
descended,  and  the  same  spirit  animates  their  work 
that  inspired  their  forefathers  two  thousand  years 
ago.  However,  they  show  a  great  power  of  assimila- 
tion. Other  designs  and  methods  are  from  time  to 
time  grafted  on  to  the  original  stock.  We  find  traces 
of  Persian  and  Arab  art  and  of  Greek  and  Etruscan 
methods,  but  they  are  all  absorbed  and  combine  to 
form  various  types  which  are  most  interesting  and 
thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  people  who  inspire  and 
make  them.  We  must  deeply  regret  that  this  power 
of  so  readily  adopting  alien  ideas  has  most  un- 
fortunately led  to  the  introduction  of  European  designs 
and  methods,  and  these,  moreover,  of  a  period  when 
they  were  most  debased  and  least  worthy  of  imitation. 
Just  as  in  other  arts,  such  as  carpet-making  and 
weaving,  the  use  of  aniline  dies  and  commercial 
methods  have  sadly  spoilt  the  products  of  the  pre- 
sent day,  so  we  find  jewellery,  especially  that  made 
for  sale  to  Europeans  or  for  those  who  have  adopted 
their  habits  and  customs,  is  of  quite  a  different 
standard  of  beauty  and  workmanship  to  that  which 


ORIENTAL  JEWELLERY 


209 


was  made  when  the  craftsman  worked  guided  only 
by  tradition  and  his  instinctive  taste.  In  buying 
for  a  collection  it  is  most  important  that  all  should 
be  of  purely  native  design,  Trinchinopoli  jewellery 
has  long  been  celebrated  in  Europe,  and  many 
pieces  have  been  brought  home  as  gifts  by  return- 
ing travellers  as  examples  of  Indian  craftsmanship, 
and  old  and  pure  examples  are  valuable  and  beau- 
tiful ;  European  influences,  however,  have  for  this  very 
reason  been  especially  strong,  and  much  of  that  made 
nowadays,  though  still  most  excel- 
lent technically,  is  spoilt  by  the 
poor  design.  Of  Delhi  work  in 
jade  the  same  may  be  said.  This 
beautiful  stone,  of  different  shades 
varying  from  greenish- white  up 
to  a  full  green,  which  has  from 
time  immemorial  been  used  by  the 
Chinese  for  ornaments,  becomes  a 
thing  of  exquisite,  fairy-like  beauty 
when  cut  and  decorated  with  gems 
by  the  Indian  workmen.  The 
stones  are  of  cabochon  cutting,  and  are  set  in  gold  to 
form  leaves  and  flowers ;  these,  with  stalks  of  gold 
holding  them  together,  form  a  kind  of  incrustation, 
through  the  intricacies  of  which  the  semi-opaque 
jade  background  gleams  quietly.  The  work  is  also 
imitated  in  enamel,  but  lacks  somewhat  of  the  life 
of  the  stone  work,  which  in  good  old  pieces  is  as 
valuable  as  it  is  beautiful.  At  Delhi,  too,  is  made 
a  very  curious  kind  of  granulated  work ;  instead  of 
the  grains  being  round,  the  tops  are  pointed.    They 


Delhi  Jade-work 
Necklace  Pendant. 


210        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

do  not  appear  to  be  filed,  and  I  do  not  know  how 
they  are  done. 

Perhaps  the  finest  gemmed  jewellery  of  all  is  to 
be  found  in  Cashmir  and  the  Punjab.  It  is  of  dis- 
tinctly Aryan  type,  to  which  also  belongs  much  of 
the  jewellery  of  the  Rajputana,  Delhi,  and  Central 
India,  and  also  (though  somewhat  debased)  that  of 
Bengal. 

Very  interesting  is  the  work  found  in  Bombay, 
where  two  types  exist  side  by  side,  the  Mahommedans 
using  the  Mogul,  or  Indian  type,  and  the  Parsees 
(who  are  a  people  of  Persian  origin  from  the  pro- 
vince of  Pars)  still  (or  rather  did,  until  lately)  use 
the  old  Persian  styles,  a  tradition  which  has  sur- 
vived a  thousand  years.  They  are,  however,  a  people 
of  very  advanced  ideas,  and  have  adopted  many 
English  customs  (many  of  them  being  enthusiastic 
cricketers),  and  they  no  longer  adhere  to  the  national 
costume  and  jewellery,  but  have  largely  given  it  up 
for  English  fashions.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  this 
should  be  so,  because  it  seems  as  if  it  is  almost 
impossible  for  Europeans  to  separate  the  idea  of 
beauty  from  that  of  intrinsic  value.  A  typical  Indian 
jeweller  of  the  old  school  works  entirely  inde- 
pendently of  it.  He  endeavours  to  make  the  gold 
go  as  far  as  possible ;  gems  are  used  for  their 
beauty  and  colour,  without  regard  for  their  pecuniary 
value.  If  he  wants  a  certain  shade  of  colour,  and 
has  not  got  a  gem  of  the  right  tint,  he  puts  in  a 
paste ;  but  whatever  his  material,  his  work  is  of  the 
best  he  can  do.  We  do  not  appraise  an  illuminated 
manuscript  by  the  amount  of  gold-leaf  or  the  weight 


ORIENTAL  JEWELLERY  211 

of  the  vellum ;  and  it  should  be  possible  to  bring 
ourselves  to  judge  jewellery  in  the  same  way,  putting 
the  commercial  spirit  on  one  side  and  judging  it  as 
one  would  any  other  art  work.  Sir  George  Bird- 
wood,  in  his  invaluable  book,  "  The  Industrial  Arts 
of  India,"  has  thus  described  the  characteristics  of 
the  Hindu  jewellery : — 

"After  the  archaic  jewellery  of  Ahmedabad,  the 
best  Indian  jewellery,  of  the  purest  Hindu  style  is 
the  beaten  gold  of  Mysore,  Sawuntwadi,  Viziana- 
gram  and  Vizagapatam,  that  well  illustrates  the 
admirable  way  in  which  the  native  workers  in  gold 
and  silver  elaborate  an  extensive  surface  of  ornament, 
out  of  apparently  a  wholly  inadequate  quantity  of 
metal,  beating  it  almost  to  the  thinness  of  tissue 
paper  without  at  all  weakening  its  effect  of  solidity. 
By  their  consummate  skill  and  thorough  knowledge 
and  appreciation  of  the  conventional  decoration  of 
surface,  they  contrive  to  give  to  the  least  possible 
weight  of  metal,  and  to  gems  commercially  abso- 
lutely valueless,  the  highest  possible  artistic  value, 
never,  even  in  their  excessive  elaboration  of  detail, 
violating  the  fundamental  principles  of  ornamental 
design,  nor  failing  to  please,  even  though  it  be  by 
an  effect  of  barbaric  richness  and  superfluity." 

The  most  pleasing  pieces  will  be  found,  as*a  rule, 
neither  among  the  ornaments  made  for  the  princes — 
which  have  almost  too  rich  and  ornate  an  appear- 
ance to  be  quite  to  our  taste,  or  those  of  the  poorest 
peasants,  but  among  those  made  for  the  fairly  well- 
to-do  classes,  who  frequently  have  all  their  wealth 
made  up  into  ornaments.     There  are  so  many  inter- 


INDIAN  AND  BURMESE 

1 .  Gold  ear-rings  of  granular-work.     From  Delhi. 

2.  Silver  ear-ring. 

3.  Burmese  necklace  with  hanging  ornament. 

4.  Indian  necklace  of  amethyst  and  pearls. 

5.  Gold  necklet  with  Jaipore  enamels. 

The  necklaces  are  figured  by  permission  of  the  authorities  of 
the  Birmingham  Museum. 


212 


213 


ORIENTAL  JEWELLERY  215 

esting  and  characteristic  forms  that  it  is  impossible 
to  enumerate  them  all,  but  amongst  the  most  artistic 
is  the  work  done  at  Cuttack,  which  bears  traces  of 
the  art  of  the  Greeks  and  Etruscans,  which  probably 
reached  India  through  the  medium  of  that  enter- 
prising race  of  traders,  the  Phoenicians.  It  is  exqui- 
sitely wrought  in  ever  varying  designs  ;  much  of  it 
is  done  by  boys.  Work  of  this  kind  is  carried  out 
by  the  travelling  jewellers,  who  carry  with  them 
their  small  outfit  and  take  up  a  position  in  the 
courtyard.  They  have  so  much  gold  weighed  out 
to  them,  and  are  paid  so  much  for  their  time,  and 
are  expected  to  return  the  same  weight  of  gold 
fashioned  into  whatever  ornaments  are  required. 
They  make,  in  this  way,  the  most  elaborate  and 
beautiful  necklets,  ear-rings,  and  bangles  of  delicate 
wires  and  grains  and  thin  plates,  rarely  repeating 
the  same  exact  design,  though  they  use  again  and 
again  the  same  traditional  motives  and  general  ideas. 
It  is  only  the  lower  orders  who  wear  silver  jewellery, 
which  is  despised  by  the  well-to-do.  Much  of  the 
cheap  jewellery  of  the  peasant  classes  is  made  com- 
pletely of  glass  of  various  colours,  and  in  other 
cases  bits  of  looking-glass  are  set,  instead  of  gems 
or  paste,  in  base  metal,  white  or  brassy.  Another 
quaint  and  interesting  form  is  that  used  in  Bombay 
which  is  made  from  a  kind  of  sealing-wax  or  lacquer. 
This  is  drawn  out  into  long,  thin  rods,  and  then 
coiled  up  into  interlacing  rings.  It'  is  coloured  in 
various  bright  tints  to  suit  the  native  taste  for  bril- 
liant colours,  and  is  most  effective. 

Enamel  has  not  been  done  very  long  in  India ; 


216        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

it  was  probably  introduced  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
The  Indian  enamel  which  is  best  known  is  perhaps 
that  of  Jaipur,  which  is  generally  of  transparent 
green  and  red  champleve  with  a  white  opaque  ground. 
It  has  thin  walls  to  the  cells,  which  gives  it  a 
general  resemblance  to  cloisonne.  It  is  probable 
that  the  colours  are  chosen  on  account  of  their 
likeness  to  rubies  and  emeralds,  which  are  such 
favourite  stones  with  Indian  jewellers.  The  Jaipur 
red  colour  is  very  fine.  The  art  is  practised,  though 
not  to  such  perfection,  all  over  India.  Other  kinds 
are  also  made,  such  as  that  made  at  Pertagbhur. 
This  is  almost  more  a  glass  or  metal-worker's  art  than 
pure  enamel,  as  it  consists  of  a  thick  layer  of  green 
glass  or  enamel  on  a  ground  of  bright  gold,  over 
which,  while  still  soft  from  the  furnace,  an  open-work 
pattern  of  gold  is  pressed,  the  green  showing  through 
the  interstices  of  the  pattern  into  which  it  rises  ;  the 
gold  is  subsequently  engraved.  This  is  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  process  given  by  those  who  have  studied 
the  subject,  but  the  actual  method  is  said  to  be  the 
secret  of  a  few  families. 

The  same  reason  (the  likeness  to  stones)  probably 
has  much  to  do  with  the  choice  of  greens,  greeny- 
blue,  and  turquoise  by  the  enamel- workers  of 
Cashmir;  only  in  this  case  the  stone  that  is  the 
inspiration  is  the  turquoise,  which  is  much  used  in 
Northern  India,  where  also  is  found  the  jewellery 
of  Thibet,  coming  in  by  way  of  Bhutan  and  other 
frontier  districts.  This  lacks  the  finish  of  Indian 
work,  but  is  very  picturesque,  with  its  large,  rough 
turquoises,  often  set  in  silver. 


ORIENTAL  JEWELLERY  217 

Chinese  Jewellery. — The  Chinese  are  very  restrained 
in  their  use  of  jewellery,  and  comparatively  little 
gold  and  gem-work  is  worn  purely  for  the  sake  of 
ornament.  Their  taste  lies  rather  in  the  direction  of 
small  works  of  art,  such  as  carved  ivory  or  jade,  and 
lacquer  work.  Their  gold  jewellery  is  often  of  a  some- 
what heavy  and  simple  character,  as  owing  to  there 
being  no  gold  coins,  this  is  a  convenient  way  of  keep- 
ing riches  in  a  portable  form.  When  made  with  this 
end  in  view  the  purity  and  weight  of  the  gold  is 
of  course  of  greater  importance  than  the  workman- 
ship. In  other  cases,  however,  though  the  work  is 
massive  the  craftsman  shows  the  utmost  skill  in 
producing  the  complicated  and  characteristic  deco- 
ration. They  also  make  delicate  wire-work  in  gold 
and  silver.  The  cap  ornaments  worn  by  all  classes 
are  beautifully  wrought,  those  of  the  mandarins  in 
gold  and  pearls,  while  that  on  the  cap  of  the  Emperor 
himself  is  an  exquisitely  embroidered  gold  dragon 
with  a  crown  of  pearls.  Strings  of  pearls  are  also 
used  as  ornaments,  and  are  very  highly  prized. 
Earthenware  is  also  used  for  such  things  as  buttons 
and  girdle  hangers,  sometimes  coloured  to  resemble 
jade,  for  which  it  is  a  substitute.  But  the  most 
characteristic  form  of  Chinese  ornaments  is  certainly 
the  inlaid  feather-work.  Cells  are  made  as  ,if  for 
cloisonne  enamel,  and  into  these  are  delicately 
affixed  tiny  bits  of  kingfisher  feather.  The  colours 
are  various  shades  of  blue,  green,  'and  mauve, 
blending  and  toning  one  into  the  other  in  the 
most  marvellous  way.  Infinite  patience  is  needed 
for  the  work,  as  each  tiny  piece  has  to  be  cut   out 


CHINESE 

1,  2,  5,  6  and  ii.     Hair  ornaments. 

3.  Headdress  of  a  bride.  Silver-gilt  filigree  open 
work,  with  applied  ornament  in  the  form  of 
a  temple,  dragons,  and  ho-hos  (a  sacred  bird). 
It  is  inlaid  in  cells  with  kingfisher  feather, 
and  is  further  decorated  with  pearls  and  silk 
tassels  and  tufts. 
4  and  8.     Hairpins  in  feather  work  and  pearls. 

7.     Necklet  (part  of)  with  pendant  of  cloisonne  enamel. 

9.     Cap  ornaments. 

10.     Small  pendant  of  kingfisher-feather  work,  repre- 
senting two  carp,  emblem  of  longevity. 


218 


21!» 


ORIENTAL  JEWELLERY  221 

and  fitted  exactly  to  the  size  of  the  place  where 
it  is  to  go.  Of  course,  the  bits  of  feather  each 
consist  of  several  strands  or  filaments  which  cling 
closely  to  each  other.  The  best  pieces  to  purchase 
are  those  with  the  finest  wire  and  the  smallest 
cells,  as  these  are  the  most  effective  and  the  most 
lasting.  The  whole  effect  is  a  glorious  sheen  of  gold 
and  blue.  The  commoner  work  and  that  made  for 
export  has  large  cells,  in  which  the  feather  is 
often  carelessly  inserted,  the  result  often  being  that 
pieces  soon  come  out  and  are  not  of  course  to  be 
replaced  in  England.  Among  specimens  which 
I  have  is  a  little  fish  barely  half  an  inch  long,  and 
there  are  thirty  cells  on  the  body,  each  with  its 
separate  piece  of  feather.  Copies  very  similar  in 
style  and  colour  are  made  in  enamel.  Most  of  the 
Chinese  enamel  ornaments,  such  as  buttons  and  clasps, 
are  in  cloisonn6,  and  are  very  charming.  Such 
jewellery  does  not,  however,  seem  to  have  been  very 
highly  esteemed,  as  there  is  seldom  anything  like  the 
elaboration  of  the  delicate  cloisonne  designs  that  we 
find  on  their  panels  or  boxes.  It  may  not,  perhaps, 
have  been  much  in  favour  for  Court  wear.  It  is  mostly 
carried  out  in  semi-transparent  colour  on  silver. 
There  is  now  being  imported  into  England  a  quantity 
of  cheap  stamped  silver  jewellery  coated  with  enamel, 
which  is  simply  made  for  export,  and  is  neither 
characteristic  nor  artistic.  This  ingenipus  people  is 
always  able  to  copy  or  adapt  any  process  or  design 
that  they  are  asked  to  execute,  but  it  is  a  great  pity 
that  they  should  make  things  so  unworthy  of  the  art 
traditions  of  their  country. 

XI 


222 


CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 


Chinese  Nail-guard. 


Nail-guards  often  beautifully  ornamented  are  some- 
times brought  to  Europe  as  curios.  The  nails  of 
the   learned    classes    in   China    are    worn    long,   to 

show  that  their  hands  are 
never  soiled  with  manual 
labour.  As  they  grow  they 
become  brittle,  and  cases 
are  made  to  protect  them, 
in  metal  or  lacquer  work.  Good  old  specimens  are 
often  very  valuable,  because  of  the  beautiful  work 
lavished  on  them  ;  they  are  also  interesting  as 
characteristic  of  the  curious  ideas  which  prevail  in 
this  wonderful  country,  so  advanced  in  some  things 
and  yet  so  extraordinarily  behind  in  others. 

Japanese  Jewellery. — We  find  in  Japan  not  only 
the  most  exquisitely  delicate  taste  in  the  choice  of 
material,  and  the  utmost  restraint  in  the  use  of 
colour  contrasts,  but  a  very  distinctive  manner  of 
metal  working.  Most  of  the  effects  are  gained  by  in- 
tricacies of  surface  and  treatment,  rather  than  by  any 
display  of  glitter  or  rich  gems.  The  metals  used  are 
often  alloys  of  little  intrinsic  value  but  of  great  artistic 
beauty,  and  the  general 
effect  of  a  collection  of 
personal  ornament  is  more 
that  of  exquisite  bric-a- 
brac  than  what  we  should 
call  jewellery.  Combs  for 
the  hair  are  a  conspicuous 
feature,  and  are  most  finely  wrought  in  lacquer,  horn, 
gold  lac  on  wood,  wood  with  ivory  appliques,  or  ivory 
stained  various  colours,  and  either  carved  or  inlaid. 


Japanese  Haircomb. 
Gold  lacquer. 


ORIENTAL  JEWELLERY 


223 


Netsuk^s  of  carved  ivory,  horn,  or  bone,  or  worked 

in  metal  are  very  much  collected ;    good  specimens 

are  very  highly  valued,  but  are  getting  increasingly 

scarce.     Genuine  old  pieces  show  the  most  delicate 

workmanship.     If  of  ivory,  the  colour  is  toned  richly 

with  age  ;  the  old  metal  ones  show  a  characteristic 

patina.     The  good  netsuk^s  are  small  and  compact. 

The  edges  are  not   sharp  and  crisp,  but  have  been 

rubbed   by   years   of  wear.      The    most 

usual   are   figure   subjects.      Good    ones 

show  considerable   ingenuity  in  making 

them  suitable  to  their  purpose.     Once  a 

few  fine   specimens   have   been   studied, 

it  will  be  impossible  for  dealers  to  take 

in    a   collector   with    the    modern    ones, 

coarsely  carved,  and  stained  to  look  old, 

sometimes  offered  at  high  prices.     If  fine 

they  are  of  considerable  value,  and  even 

a  fairly  nice  one  will  be  well  worth  five 

to  ten  shillings.     Buttons   for   fastening 

garments  are  worked  in  metal,  ivory,  and 

lacquer,    and    their   interest    and    value 

depend   entirely  on  their   workmanship. 

There  is  a  lot  of  modern   work   about, 

made  at  commercial  rates,  for  the  European  market ; 

and  of  no  interest  to  expert  collectors. 

The  sword-guards  are  a  separate  study  in  them- 
selves. A  great  many  were  on  the  market  some 
time  ago  of  real  value  and  beauty,  having  belonged 
to  the  ancient  aristocracy  of  Japan.  Practically 
these  have  been  all  absorbed  into  the  great 
collections,  and   it   is    very   rare   to    find   a    really 


NetsuW  in 
position. 


224        CHATS  ON  OLD   JEWELLERY 

exquisite  specimen  of  the  best  old  work  ;  and  though 
the  simpler  ones  have  great  charm  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  large  prices  are  only  for  the 
very  best  ones.  These  sword-guards  are  sometimes 
of  considerable  age,  dating  back  to  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. They  consist  of  flat  pieces  of  metal  of  various 
sizes  up  to  three  or  four  inches  in  breadth,  roundish 
or  oval  or  nearly  square.  Generally  there  are  three 
openings,  through  the  largest  of  which  the  sword 
passed,  and  small  knives  or  daggers  through  the 
others.  They  are  made  of  various  metals  and 
alloys,  in  working  which  the  Japanese  show  such 
consummate  skill,  and  also  of  gold  and  silver.  The 
designs  are  most  elaborate  and  characteristic  ;  in  the 
fine  pieces  the  metal,  though  in  reality  strong  as 
befitted  their  purpose,  being  worked  till  it  has  the 
delicate  finish  of  lace  yet  retaining  a  certain  solidity 
of  appearance. 

There  are  many  other  nations  and  tribes  that 
have  personal  ornaments  of  an  extremely  interest- 
ing kind,  but  they  belong  more  to  the  domain  of 
the  ethnologist,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  do 
more  than  touch  upon  them  here.  Mention  may 
be  made  of  the  wampum  of  the  North  American 
Indians,  so  often  spoken  of  in  literature.  It  con- 
sists of  the  interior  parts  of  shells  rubbed  down 
so  as  to  form  beads,  which  were  also  used  as 
money.  The  jade  or  greenstone  ornaments  of 
the  New  Zealanders  are  often  imported  and 
used  as  charms.  Genuine  specimens  are  said 
to  be  bored  from  each  side  with  holes  which  are 
wider  on  the  surface  than  where  they  meet  in  the 


ORIENTAL  JEWELLERY  225 

middle,  as  the  natives  had  no  proper  drilling 
apparatus.  The  ancient  inhabitants  of  Mexico  also 
used  jade,  turquoise  matrix,  and  pyrites  (usually 
called  marcasite).  The  most  extraordinary  of  their 
ornaments  which  have  come  down  to  us  are  life-sized 
masks  covered  with  inlaid  turquoise.  These  were 
brought  into  Europe  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
Many  of  them  belonged  to  the  Medici  family.  They 
are  exceedingly  scarce,  only  twenty-two  of  them 
being  known.  Perhaps  hidden  away  in  some 
country  house,  among  other  things  brought  back  by 
venturesome  ancestors,  there  may  be  another  of  these 
hideous  but  valuable  trophies ! 


VJI 
BROOCHES 


.r^ 


Early  furms  of  Brooches. 


CHAPTER  VII 

BROOCHES 

Serving  as  a  link  between  the  purely  useful  and 
the  purely  ornamental,  brooches  have  a  rather 
unique  position  among  articles  of  jewellery.  They 
are  generally  very  typical  of  the  kind  of  metal 
work  that  was  in  vogue  at  the  time  they  were 
made,  and  though  often  extravagant  in  size  and 
work,  and  elaborate  in  their  decorations,  yet  the 
very  fact  that  after  all  they  have  a  purpose  to  serve 
seems  to  have,  as  a  rule,  prevented  their  makers 
from  utilising  on  them  the  more  exotic  forms  of 
ornament,  and  so  kept  them  in  many  cases  distinc- 
tively national  in  character. 

The  examination  of  a  series  of  specimens  will  be 
a  very  good  means  of  obtaining  a  bird's-eye  view 
of  the  various  styles  of  ornament  and  workmanship 
employed  as  jewellery  that  have  prevailed  apong 
European »  peoples  from  an  early  period  to  the 
present  day.  The  study  is  the  more  interesting 
because  there  have  been  several  diffefent  types  in 
which  the  mechanism  of  fastening  is  quite  distinct. 

The  term  "  brooch  "  is  used  for  almost  any  tem- 

'  The  brooch,  as  we  know  it,  is  hardly  used  in  Asia  or  Africa. 


230        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

porary  and  removable  arrangement  which  holds  two 
parts  of  a  garment  together.  Neither  hooks  and 
eyes  nor  buckles  would  come  in  under  this  definition. 
A  pixi  would  ;  but  in  the  ordinary  acceptance  of  the 
word  we  look  for  another  part  hinged  to  the  pin 
to  retain  it  in  the  required  position,  before  it  is 
included  as  a  brooch.  The  study  of  the  evolu- 
tion and  distribution  of  the  different  types  is  an 
exceedingly  interesting  one. 


I  Siftt, ^^n.x»p« 


Types  of  Brooches. 


The  simplest  and  earliest  is  a  "  safety-pin  "  form, 
which  consists  of  a  pin,  a  hinge,  a  spring,  and  a 
bow  all  in  one  place.  This  develops,  still  maintain- 
ing the  same  principle,  many  variants  with  separate 
parts.  If  instead  of  a  simple  bow  a  ring  or  hoop 
takes  its  place  it  is  known  as  an  "  Annular "  or 
"  Ring  "  brooch.  If  there  is  a  solid  plaque  or  orna- 
mental face,  it  is  known  as  a  "  Discoidal  "  brooch. 
While  if,  instead  of  a  perfect  circle,  the  bow  consists 
of  a  ring  with  a  gap  in  it,  through  which  the  pin 


BROOCHES  231 

is  passed  and  given  a  partial  turn  to  retain  it  in 
position,  we  have  a  "  Penannular "  brooch  or  pin. 

They  are  all  developments  of  the  pin,  and  repre- 
sent the  attempts  made  by  craftsmen  in  different 
ways  to  circumvent  the  natural  inclination  of  the 
simple  skewer-shaped  pin  to  work  out  of  the  fabric 
which  it  was  intended  to  keep  together. 

Following  the  primeval  thorns,  which  no  doubt 
our  first  parents  used  to  pin  their  airy  fig-leaf  gar- 
ments together,  probably  came  the  bodkin  of  wood 
or  bone  ;  and  until  mankind  had  learnt  to  work  metal 
no  further  development  was  possible,  except  perhaps 
some  kind  of  a  thong  or  a  loop,  passing  through  a  hole 
in  the  head  which  could  be  stretched  over  the  point 

When  metal  pins  came  into  being,  the  advantage 
of  doubling  a  pin  in  two  and  making  a  hook  into 
which  the  point  could  be  caught  was  at  once  mani- 
fest. Then  springs  at  the  hinge  and  shields  for  the 
points  were  refinements  soon  added,  and  they  devel- 
oped into  the  most  wonderful  elaboration.  In  the 
course  of  their  evolution  they  are  divided  by  anti- 
quarians into  several  classes  according  to  the  peculi- 
arities of  their  construction.  On  the  whole,  the 
earliest  specimens  are  more  curious  than  beautiful, 
and  only  a  few  descriptions  are  given  which  serve  to 
indicate  some  of  the  types,  leaving  the  more  minute 
divergencies  to  those  who  make  a  special  study  of 
this  branch  of  antiquarianism,  which  is  sufficiently 
large  to  have  a  literature  of  its  own. 

There  were  a  great  many  varieties  in  use  during 
the  early  iron  Age.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
the  use  of  bronze  was  not  discontinued  when  what 


232        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

is  known  as  the  Bronze  Age  came  to  an  end.  Iron 
was  used  in  addition,  and  the  former  metal  con- 
tinued to  be  used  especially  for  ornamental  and 
domestic  objects.  Some  of  these  fibulae  were  of 
excessive  size  and  weight,  and  the  contortions  of  the 
spring  were  often  extraordinary. 

Brooches  nearly  akin  to  the  ordinary  modern  type 
were  coeval  with  the  safety-pin  kind,  and  in  appear- 
ance were  very  similar  to  those  we  are  used  to. 
Greek  and  Etruscan  brooches  are,  like  their  other 
jewellery,  marked  by  the  exquisite  delicacy  of  their 
craftsmanship. 

The  Eomans  appear  to  have  used  the  safety-pin 
form  of  brooch  almost  exclusively,  and  like  so  many 
of  their  adaptations  from  other  sources,  they  often 
exaggerated  and  distorted  what  had  been  beautiful 
and  graceful  shapes  in  the  originals,  into  clumsy  and 
heavy  forms. 

In  Britain  the  fibulae  used  before  the  coming  of 
the  Romans  were  in  one  piece.  They  were  of  foreign 
origin  or  at  least  of  continental  design. ^  Afterwards 
the  bow-shaped  kind  with  a  separate  hinge  on  which 
the  pin  worked  to  and  fro  was  introduced.  The  harp 
shape  was  very  characteristic  of  the  Romano-British 
period.  The  T-shaped  brooch  continued  in  use  after 
the  Romans  evacuated  the  country,  and  later  was  a 
favourite  shape  with  the  Anglo-Saxons.  Probably 
the  brooches  found  in  this  country  in  which  cross- 
sections  of  millefiori  glass  are  set  were  produced  under 
Roman  influence,  as  the  art  of  making  it  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  known  to  our  British  ancestors, 

'  See  Celtic  Art,  Romilly  Allen,  p.  105. 


BROOCHES  233 

The  Anglo-Saxons  and  other  Teutonic  tribes  were 
very  expert  in  the  jeweller's  craft,  and  brooches  were 
the  objects  on  which  they  expended  much  of  their 
attention.  In  gold  and  bronze  numerous  specimens' 
have  been  discovered  which  have  never  been  sur- 
passed as  personal  decorations.  Greek,  Etruscan, 
and  Celtic  work  is  indeed  more  wonderful  in  minute- 
ness and  intricacy  of  craftsmanship,  but  the  best 
Anglo-Saxon  brooches  are  for  their  purpose  entirely 
satisfying. 

There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  one  par- 
ticular style  of  brooch  which  especially  appealed  to 
the  Byzantines  so  as  to  give  it  a  national  character, 
and  this  is  perhaps  natural.  Such  differing  cultures 
as  those  which  combined  in  Byzantine  Art  would 
naturally  express  themselves  in  varying  forms.  They 
used  both  the  safety-pin  and  discoidal  form  largely  ; 
some  of  the  fibulae  being  enormous  in  size  and  weight 
and  very  clumsy,  with  hanging  pendants  and  attached 
jewels.  Enamels  of  their  characteristic  type  are 
found  set  in  the  face  of  discoidal  brooches,  which 
were  probably  made  in  other  parts  of  Europe  but 
under  Byzantine  influence. 

Nowhere  has  the  penannular  kind  of  brooch 
reached  the  point  of  perfection  to  which  it  attained 
in  the  hands  of  Irish  craftsmen.  It  probably  may 
be,  like  so  many  of  our  decorative  fornis,  of 
Oriental  origin  and  is  still  in  use  in  Algeria,  but 
it  was  in  Ireland,  during  the  period  from  the  ninth 
to  the  thirteenth  centuries  that  it  reached  its  high- 
water  mark  of  beauty  of  design  and  craftsman- 
ship.     For  it  is  so  distinctive  in  its  character  and  is 


BROOCHES.      ANGLO-SAXON  AND   MEROVINGIAN 

I  and  3.  Merovingian  brooch.  It  is  made  of  cast  bronze  faced 
with  gold  beautifully  worked  with  filigree.  It  is  set 
with  pastes.  The  photo  of  the  back  (3)  is  from  a 
reproduction.  The  hinge  and  catch  are  of  iron,  and 
have  suffered  considerably  from  rust. 
2.     Anglo-Saxon  fibula  or  buckle  of  filigree-work. 

4.  A  most  beautiful  circular  brooch  which  was  found  with  a 

necklace  containing  coins  of  the  sixth  and  seventh 
centuries.  It  shows  the  typical  inlaid-work  common 
to  the  invading  Barbarians. 

5.  A  fibula  with  a  radiated  head  of  the  continental  type.     It 

is  of  bronze-gilt  and  is  set  with  garnets. 

6.  Anglo-Saxon.     A  circular  silver-gilt   fibula.     From  Faver- 

sham  (Kent).     It  is  set  with  garnets. 


234 


235 


BROOCHES  237 

often  so  exquisitely  worked  that  it  holds  a  unique 
position.  It  is  curious  that  it  should  ever  have 
become  so  popular,  as  it  would  seem  to  be  a  most 
singularly  inconvenient  form  of  fastening.  The  pin, 
which  runs  more  or  less  freely  on  the  broken  circle, 
is  prevented  from  coming  off  altogether  by  the  en- 
largement of  the  end  of  the  ring.  Sometimes  the  ends 
terminate  in  bulbous  forms,  sometimes  in  discs,  some- 
times they  simply  broaden  out  in  a  general  widening 
of  the  decoration. 

The  fastening  of  the  garment 
is  managed  by  passing  the  pin 
through  two  portions  of  the 
material ;  the  ring  is  then  given 
a  twist,  which  brings  one  end 
under  the  pin,  the  weight  of 
the  cloak  keeping  it  firm.  The 
point  of  the  pin  always  pointed 

upwards.      It    was  worn  by  men      Penannular  Pin  as  worn 
,  ,        ,  ,  ,    ,  by     the    Kabyles    of 

on  the  shoulder  and  by  women         North  Africa, 
on  the  bosom. 

Absolutely  unique  amongst  these  brooches  is  the 
"  Tara "  brooch,  which  was  buried  in  the  sand  for 
centuries,  till  found  by  some  children  in  1850.  Their 
mother,  after  trying  to  sell  it  to  a  metal  dealer  in 
Drogheda,  received  a  small  sum  for  it,  from  a  Watch- 
maker. After  passing  through  several  hands  it  at  last 
found  a  safe  resting-place  in  the  Royal  If  ish  Academy 
collection  preserved  at  the  National  Museum,  Dublin. 
It  is  wonderful  that  after  these  vicissitudes  it  should 
remain  in  the  very  good  condition  in  which  it 
is,  as  the  ornament  is  of  the   most   elaborate   and 


BROOCHES.     NORTHERN  COUNTRIES  AND   CELTIC 

Curious  hook-and-eye  fibula  of  the  later  Bronze  Age.  From 
Denmark. 

Penannular  brooch  with  gap  closed.  The  decoration  is  cast,  not 
applied.     It  is  set  with  blue  paste  and  amber. 

Tortoise  brooch  from  Denmark,  belonging  to  the  Early  Viking 
period.  The  material  is  bronze.  On  close  examination  the 
design  is  found  to  consist  of  four  birds  with  their  legs  extra- 
ordinarily lengthened  and  intertwined. 

Oval  brooch  of  the  type  found  in  Norway  and  Sweden.  It  belongs 
to  the  latter  Iron  Age.     It  is  of  open-worked  bronze. 

An  ancient  British  brooch  ornamented  with  filigree-work  in  gold. 
The  centre  stone  is  an  amethyst. 


238 


239 


BROOCHES  241 

delicate  kind.  The  craftsman  who  made  it  must 
have  expended  his  utmost  skill  in  carrying  out  the 
decorations  of  enamel,  niello,  gold  filigree,  carving, 
engraving,  and  settings  of  glass  and  amber.  Attached 
to  it  there  is  a  finely  wrought  chain  of  Trichinopoli 
work.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  design  is  worked 
in  addition  with  animal  and  human  forms,  and  scroll 
and  spiral  patterns,  the  whole  forms  a  harmonious 
decoration.  One  feels  it  is  a  triumphant  vindication 
of  Browning's  saying : — 

"One  may  do  whate'er  one  likes 
In  Art :  the  only  thing  is,  to  make  sure 
That  one  does  like  it — which  takes  pains  to  know." 

Surely  this  craftsman  felt  a  joy  in  his  work. 

Among  the  most  interesting  varieties  of  brooches 
are  those  to  be  found  in  Denmark  and  the  Scandi- 
navian peninsula. 

One  kind,  which  is  attributed  to  the  later  Bronze 
Age,  much  resembles  an  ordinary  hook-and-eye  clasp, 
except  that  the  hook  part  is  much  elongated,  and 
instead  of  being  on  the  under-side  turns  on  to  the 
front,  where  it  fastens  on  a  catch.  This,  of  course, 
entirely  prevents  it  from  coming  undone  when  the 
tension  is  slackened,  as  a  hook  and  eye  would. 

During  the  latter  Iron  Age  also  most  extra- 
ordinarily large  and  heavy  fibulse  of  varying  types 
were  worn  in  Scandinavia.  The  most  interesting 
because  the  most  distinctively  characteristic  is  what  is 
known  as  the  Tortoise  or  Viking  type.  It  is  oval  in 
shape,  and  is  generally  worked  out  of  solid  bronze. 
As  its  name  denotes,  it  bears  a  general  resemblance 

12 


MEDI/EVAL  BROOCHES 

An  exceedingly  small  ring  brooch  found  at  Wexford.  Probable 
date,  fifteenth  century.  It  is  of  gold  set  with  stones,  and  is 
of  English  workmanship. 

Brooch  which,  though  not  actually  round  in  shape,  yet  belongs  to 
the  annular  type.  It  is  ornamented  with  stones  and  pearls 
mounted  by  pins  through  a  central  boring.  It  is  English 
work  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

English  ring  brooch  of  the  fourteenth  century.  A  very  beautiful 
example  in  excellent  preservation.  The  inner  circle  is  com- 
posed of  stones  and  open-work  bosses  alternately ;  the  outer 
row  consists  of  pearls  and  stones.     The  pin  has  been  lost. 

A  Burgundian  brooch  found  in  the  Meuse.  This  is  a  very  rare 
example  of  curious  workmanship.  What  appear  to  be  stones 
or  pearls  round  the  sides  are  in  reality  enamel.  No  doubt  it 
was  originally  set  with  pearl  beads,  but  these  have  disap- 
peared. It  is  composed  of  gold.  The  remaining  stones  are 
a  diamond  and  a  ruby. 


212 


■2i3 


BROOCHES 


245 


to  a  tortoise  in  outline.  The  decorations,  as  a  rule, 
are  of  a  zoomorphic  character,  and  are  sometimes 
most  beautifully  wrought.  Specimens  have  been 
found  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  where  they  are 
probably  relics  of  raids  and  settlements  of  sea- 
kings. 

In  England  and  France  in  Mediaeval  times  the 
brooch  form  most  frequently  met  with  was  a  ring 
with  a  hinged  pin.  The  material  to  be  fastened  was 
pulled  up  inside  the  ring,  and  the  pin  pushed  through ; 
the  strain  on  it  kept  it  in  place,  as  there  was  no 
actual  catch.  They  vary  much 
in  size,  some  of  them  being  as 
small  as  a  threepenny  piece  and 
most  daintily  worked.  They 
are  generally  charming  in  design, 
the  jewels  being  most  happily 
selected  to  balance  the  metal 
work.  Often  their  sole  decora- 
tion is  a  motto,  ordinarily  of  a 
religious  or  amatory  character. 
This  was  generally  in  French,  even  if  the  brooch 
was  of  English  make,  as  French  was  the  language 
of  the  Court  and  the  nobility.  In  some  of  the 
ring  brooches  there  was  a  distinct  catch  on  the 
front,  so  that  the  pin  could  not  slip  sideways.  A 
form  of  ring  brooch  was  also  used  in  Scotland  that 
had  the  catch  on  the  back.  There  was  also  a  kind 
of  double  form,  in  which  there  was  a  bar  down  the 
middle.  Two  pins  were  hinged  one  to  each  side 
of  the  circle  and  they  caught  on  to  the  centre 
division.     The   most    noteworthy   example    of   this 


Ring    Brooch.      Scotch. 
Eighteenth  century. 


246        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

kind  is  the  celebrated  Glenlyon  brooch.  Ring 
brooches  were  made  of  various  types  in  Scotland 
till  comparatively  recent  times. 

After  the  fifteenth  century  or  thereabouts  the  dis- 
coidal  brooch,  after  having  been  in  use  intermittently 
for  centuries,  settled  down  as  the  almost  universally 
employed  form.  The  face  of  course  varied  in  shape ; 
sometimes  it  was  solid  and  sometimes  of  open-work, 
but  the  characteristic  of  having  hinge,  pin,  and  catch 
on  the  back  of  a  flattish  ornamented  front  were 
retained.  It  is  still  the  ordinary  type  of  brooch  as 
worn  by  every  one,  and  for  the  last  five  centuries  the 
development  consists  mainly  of  changes  in  the  fashion 
of  its  decoration.  During  the  sixteenth  century  it  was 
frequently  of  enamelled  gold,  most  beautifully 
modelled  in  designs  of  figures  and  animals.  It  was 
often  worn  in  the  same  way  as  the  enseigne,  which 
it  resembled  though  not  necessarily  so  individual 
in  design.  The  enseigne,  however,  was  stitched  in 
position  and  the  brooch  was  movable.  It  was  worn 
in  the  hats  of  men  and  women,  and  it  was  also 
pinned  into  the  hair  of  the  latter.  It  seems  at  this 
time  to  have  been  more  used  as  an  ornament  than 
as  a  fastening,  and  perhaps  that  is  why  the  designs 
are  often  somewhat  fantastic. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  use  of  figure  sub- 
jects was  not  so  common  as  heretofore,  coloured 
stone-work  and  marvellously  realistically  worked 
wreaths  and  groups  of  flowers  in  enamel  superseding 
them.  The  stone-work  of  the  seventeenth  century  is 
decidedly  scarce,  and  the  most  usual  examples  in 
brooches  consist  of  charming  groups  of  flowers  made 


BROOCHES 


247 


of  gold  and  silver  open-work  set  with  quite  small 
stones  ;  sometimes  they  are  arranged  in  a  basket  or 
vase.  The  back  is  generally  engraved  in  accordance 
with  the  design  on  the  front  If  a  basket  or  vase  is 
represented,  for  instance,  the  strands  of  the  weaving, 
or  the  contours  and  ornamentation  of  the  vase  are 
delicately  imitated  on  the  reverse.  These  brooches 
are  largely  imitated,  and  if  in  doubt  as  to  whether 
a  piece  is  original  or  a  copy,  the  back  is  a  much 
better   guide  than  the  front.     The   modern  worker 


Girandoles  from  book  by 
Pouget,  fils.     1762. 


Girandoles 

Corsage 
Ornament. 


has  to  economise  labour,  and  shirks  putting  fine 
work  where  it  will  not  be  seen.  This  class  of  work 
was  carried  on  to  the  first  third  of  the  eighteenth 
century ;  more  of  the  stones  and  less  of  the  gold 
predominating  later.  It  merged  into  a  geometrical 
arrangement  of  stones  grouped  round  a  large  one,  in 
which  one  can  sometimes  trace  the  idea  of  a  flower, 
but  which  was  oftener  purely  formal.  This  kind  of 
flower-work  is  used  with  pearls  in  the  early  and 
middle  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  to  form  a  very 
favourite    kind    of   brooch,    the    Girandole.      The 


BROOCHES   OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  AND  NINETEENTH 
CENTURIES 

1.  A  modem  Swedish  brooch  in  gold  and  green  enamel. 

2.  Modern  Hungarian  brooch  in  silver-gilt,  set  pearls.and  pastes. 

3.  A  modern  Florentine  brooch  of  filigree  set  with  garnets  and  pearls. 

4.  Brooch  of  early  nineteenth-century  filigree-work  in  gold.     The 

centre  stone  is  a  yellow  topaz,  and  it  is  surrounded  with 
others  which  are  pink.  The  corner  stones  are  turquoise. 
The  work  is  much  better  than  most  that  was  done  at  this 
period. 

5.  An  ovate  brooch  mounted  in  gold.     The  central  ornament  is 

carried  out  in  fine  gold  mixed  with  tiny  pearls,  mounted  on 
a  ground  of  purple  foil.  It  is  English  work  of  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  whole  is  surrounded  with  a 
ring  of  brilliants. 

6.  Early  eighteenth-century  brooch  of  mixed  stones.    The  centre  one 

is  a  peridot,  and  it  is  surrounded  with  stones  of  various 
colours.    The  fine  spray-work  is  of  small  diamonds. 

7.  An  oval  brooch  of  pave  turquoise.     Mid-nineteenth  century. 


248 


•249 


BROOCHES 


251 


general  construction  is  practically  always  the  same, 
a  larger  centre  ornament  from  which  hang  three 
large  pearls.  The  details  of  the  design  vary,  but  it 
generally  consists  of  a  knot  of  ribbon  in  stone-work, 
often  with  flowers  and  other  ornament  entwined  in 
it.  The  only  example  that  I  have  examined  closely 
had  imitation  pearls,  but  the  stones  (rubies  and 
emeralds)  were,  I  was  told,  real.  It  is  probable  that 
this  was  generally  the  case,  as  these  enormous 
pearls  would  be  very  expensive  and  the  ornament 
was  a  favourite  one.  Very 
likely  Royalty  and  the  higher 
nobility  indulged  in  the  real 
thing,  while  those  who  could 
not  afford  them  accepted  the 
substitutes. 

Then  towards  the  end  of 
the  century  coloured  stones 
went  out  of  fashion.  Duflos 
his    book    "  Dessins     de 


m 


Eighteenth-century  Brooch. 
From  a  portrait  of  Mrs 
Delany. 

Joaillerie"  (about  1770)  com- 
plains that  they  were  no  longer  mixed  with  brilliants. 
Diamonds  or  pearls  were  used  alone,  generally  closely 
set  in  silver.  Strass  (so  called  after  the  man  who 
invented  it  in  1758)  and  paste  were  not  so  frequently 
used  for  brooches  as  for  buckles,  buttons,  &c.,  and 
those  offered  as  old,  of  which  the  design  consists  of 
plain  bows  of  ribbon  in  largish  stones,  should  be 
carefully  examined  before  being  accepted  as  genuine. 
Small  works  of  art,  such  as  miniature  portraits  or 
paintings  in  grisaille  under  crystal,  and  Wedgwood 
medallions  surrounded  by  diamonds  or  pearls,  often 


252        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

oval  in  shape,  were  popular  from  about  1780  onwards. 
Sometimes  the  centre  was  of  rich  blue  enamel  or 
glass,  with  marcasite  or  diamonds  round. 

Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  a  delightful  style 
of  mixed  wire-work  and  fancy  stones  made  its 
appearance ;  rather  later  pav6  turquoise  had  a  great 
vogue,  and  the  tiny  seed  pearls  threaded  on  horse- 
hair and  worked  in  charming  designs  on  fretwork 
and  mother-of-pearl.  About  1835  there  was  a  new 
note  struck  which  is  worthy  of  note,  as  owing  to 
some  of  its  details  recalling  the  past  the  inexperi- 


Topaz  I  Brooch  sur- 
rounded with  small 
pearls.    Circa  1805.  Scroll  Brooch.     Circa  1835. 

enced  collector  might  imagine  these  pieces  to  belong 
to  a  much  earlier  period.  It  was  a  time  when 
romantic  literature  was  the  rage,  and  accordingly 
jewellery  had  to  partake  of  the  feeling.  The  general 
shape  of  the  pieces  is  founded  on  the  scrolls  of 
leather,  on  which,  at  one  time,  armorial  bearings 
were  displayed.  When  such  skins  become  dry  the 
extremities  curl  up,  and  this  peculiarity  was  seized 
on  as  the  base  of  designs.  On  the  face  of  the  brooch 
sentimental  knights  and  maidens  were  modelled,  and 
other  details  which  appealed  to  the  designer  as  being 
Mediaeval,  were  added  ad  lib.,  and  precious   stones 


BROOCHES  253 

sprinkled  here  and  there.  On  other  pieces  knights 
in  armour  were  tilting,  or  troubadours  serenaded  their 
lady-loves.  There  is  a  sentimentality  about  these 
brooches  that  stamps  them  as  belonging  to  an 
age  when  romance  was  talked  and  written  about 
but  had  very  little  part  in  real  life.  No  one  who 
has  studied  the  real  products  of  the  Middle  Ages 
will  make  the  mistake  of  thinking  these  Mediaeval. 
They  are,  however,  very  well  made.  About  the 
middle  of  the  century  come  tubes  of  gold,  knotted 
and  twisted  into  various  forms,  often  surrounding 
pebbles  or  coarse  cameos,  followed  by  other  crude 
and  inartistic  fashions  in  which  no  one  can  possibly 
find  any  beauty.  It  was  a  time  when  jewellery  was 
judged  solely  for  the  value  of  the  gold  and  stones. 
Let  us  draw  a  veil  over  these  real  "  Dark  Ages." 


Engraved  Gold  Brooch. 

Turquoise  and  small  pearls. 

Cina  1840. 


VIII 
RINGS 


RINGS 

1 .  Ring  believed  to  have  belonged  to  Alhstan,  Bishop  of 

Sherbourne  A.D.  817-867,  It  is  of  ninth-century 
Anglo-Saxon  workmanship. 

2.  The  Damley  ring.     This  may  possibly  have  been  the 

wedding  ring  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  Henry 
Darnley,  as  his  name  is  inside  and  the  date,  1565, 
which  was  the  year  of  their  marriage. 

3.  Enamelled  ring  set  with  a  stone.     Probably  of  seven- 

teenth-century workmanship. 

4.  A  very  elaborate  ring  with  enamelled  goats'  heads  on 

the  shoulders. 

5.  Italian   ring.      Seventeenth   century,  with   enamelled 

setting. 
6  and  7  (two  views).  Jewish  betrothal  rings.  Eighteenth  or 
nineteenth  century.  These  were  not  worn  in  the 
ordinary  way,  but  were  used  ceremonially.  They 
are  of  gold  decorated  with  raised-work  in  filigree 
and  coloured  enamels. 

8.  Mid-eighteenth-century  ring.      Probably   made  by  a 

Welsh  local  jeweller.  The  setting  is  heavy,  but 
very  handsome.  The  back  and  shoulders  have 
been  enamelled  pale  blue.  The  stones  are 
diamonds,  rose  cut.     The  setting  is  silver. 

9.  English    eighteenth-century    ring    set  with   Brazilian 

stones.  The  three  centre  diamonds  are  hobnail 
brilliants,  the  other  rose  cut.  They  are  all  set  in 
silver. 
10.  Early  eighteenth-century  ring.  The  bezel  is  of  table- 
cut  diamonds  set  in  silver. 
II,  12  and  13.  Rings  set  with  pearls  and  turquoise  in  filigree  mounts. 
About  1830. 


266 


257 


CHAPTER  VIII 

RINGS 

There  are  few  more  interesting  collections  than 
those  of  rings.  If  at  all  representative  they  not  only 
show  us  a  history  of  the  jeweller's  art  in  a  compact 
and  nearly  complete  way,  but  also  tell  us  much  of  the 
history,  laws,  and  religion  of  different  countries  and 
peoples.  Of  course,  to  make  a  really  fine  collection, 
large  sums  of  money  would  have  to  be  spent,  but 
a  small  one,  of  considerable  interest,  even  though  it 
did  not  contain  examples  set  with  splendid  stones, 
or  any  pieces  of  great  historical  value,  could  be 
formed  at  comparatively  small  expense.  There 
would,  perhaps,  be  nothing  unique  in  it,  but  it  would 
be  made  up  of  pieces  that,  if  one  knows  what 
they  are  and  something  about  their  origin,  are 
links  in  the  chain  of  history,  but  which,  if  their 
period  and  purpose  are  not  identified,  are  merely 
curios,  and  without  very  particular  interest  beyond 
their  mere  beauty  of  colour  and  workmanship. 

The  subject  of  finger-rings  is,  of  course,  a  very 
wide  one,  and  there  are  various  large  and  learned 
volumes  dealing  with  different  sides  and  departments 
of  it  that  should  be  carefully  studied  by  any  one 

9SB 


260        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

who  is  going  in  for  making  a  large  collection.  Take 
seal  -  rings  alone.  In  the  subdivisions  such  as 
"  scarabs "  and  "  engraved  gems,"  there  are  many 
volumes  embodying  the  results  of  the  greatest  expert 
knowledge,  so  that  only  an  introduction  to  the  sub- 
ject can  be  given  here,  sufficient  for  those  who  are 
starting,  or  hovering  on  the  brink  of  starting,  a 
collection. 

The  ring  is  not  only  one  of  the  most  ancient  of 
personal  ornaments,  but  also  at  various  times  it  has 
been  endowed  with  all  kinds  of  mystical  and  em- 
blematic qualities.  It  has  been  associated  with 
religion,  with  law,  with  love,  with  death ;  in  one 
form  or  another,  in  fact,  it  seems  to  be  bound  up 
with  most  of  the  phases  of  life. 

It  has  not  always  been  worn  in  the  same  way. 
Some  of  the  ancient  nations,  the  Egyptians,  Phoe- 
nicians, and  Babylonians,  wore  it  on  the  third 
finger  of  the  right  hand ;  it  was  also  sometimes 
carried  on  a  string  worn  round  the  neck  so  that  it 
hung  down  on  to  their  chests.  The  Greeks  and 
Romans  wore  them  on  their  left  hand,  and  they 
generally  used  a  ring  which  also  served  as  signet ; 
the  bezel  often  consisted  of  an  engraved  gem. 
But  all  these  antique  peoples  frequently  wore  several 
examples ;  sometimes  every  finger  was  adorned  with 
one  or  more.  Under  the  Roman  Empire  the  extra- 
vagance in  wearing  rings  verged  on  the  ludicrous. 
Men  and  women  wore  them  on  all  the  fingers  of 
both  hands  except  the  middle  finger,  and  further, 
wore  them  on  nearly  every  joint.  There  were  light 
rings  for  summer   and   heavy  rings   for   winter ;   in 


RINGS 


261 


fact,  there  was  no  end  to  the  foolishness  displayed. 
Heliogabalus  never  wore  the  same  set  twice. 

There  are  very  few  Anglo-Saxon  rings  surviving, 
one  of  the  most  noteworthy  being  the  ring  of  Ethel- 
wulf.  It  is  made  of  gold  with  niello  ornamentation 
and  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  workmanship 
of  that  period.  This  is  an  example  of  the  extra- 
ordinary way  in  which  beautiful  things  may  come 
to  light  after  being  hidden  for  years.  It  was  dis- 
covered in  the  rut  of  a  cart-track,  or  rather  in  the 
wet  mud  squeezed  out  by  the  passage  of  the  vehicle. 
It  was  sold  by  the  labourer  who 
found  it  for  the  value  of  the  gold 
to  a  jeweller,  and  after  various 
vicissitudes  was  purchased  by  the 
British  Museum.  During  the 
Middle  Ages  the  rings  were  made 
with  a  very  high  bezel,  the  sides 
often  ornamented  with  fine  filigree 
work  and  enamels,  and  a  small 
stone  set  in  the  top.  These  rings 
are  the  most  common  objects  of  jewellery  to  have 
survived  from  Mediaeval  times,  and  almost  the  only 
pieces  of  what  one  may  call  the  ornaments  of 
everyday  wear  as  distinguished  from  "  crov^n "  or 
**  ecclesiastical  "  jewellery.  The  Renaissance  type  of 
the  ring  was,  like  the  rest  of  the  je\yellery  of  that 
period,  very  elaborate,  and  was  adorned  with  enamels, 
cameos,  and  figures  worked  in  full  relief. 

During  the  seventeenth  century  faceted  stones  of 
mixed  colours  were  very  much  used  for  the  orna- 
mentation, and   with  the  eighteenth   the    diamond 


Ring  of  Ethelwuh, 
King  of  Merda. 


262        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

began  its  reign,  and  has  been  the  ring-stone  ever 
since  ;  but  still,  during  this  period,  there  have  been 
other  varieties  made  that,  without  possessing  a 
hundredth  part  of  the  intrinsic  value  of  a  diamond 
ring  set  with  a  large  stone  of  the  purest  water,  yet 
have  qualities  that  make  them  much  more  interesting 
in  a  collection. 


The  Different  Types  of  Rings. 

Signet  Rings. — The  earliest  kind  of  seal  generally 
to  be  found  in  collections  is  the  Egyptian  scarab, 
which  takes  its  name  from  the  beetle  known  scienti- 
fically as  the  ScarabcBus  sacer.  It  used  to  be  thought 
that  it  buried  its  &gg,  having  rolled  it  up  in  dirt 
into  the  shape  of  a  ball ;  and  this  process,  with  the 
hatching  of  the  young,  was  considered  emblematic 
of  death,  resurrection,  and  final  immortality.  The 
earliest  scarabs  are  of  soft  stone.  Afterwards,  harder 
and  more  valuable  materials  were  employed,  such  as 
amethyst,  crystal,  and  the  precious  metals.  They 
are,  however,  generally  made  of  earthernware.  The 
earliest  form  closely  resembles  the  beetle,  but  this 
likeness  decreases,  and  after  the  XXVIth  Dynasty 
the  insect  original  is  hardly  recognisable,  the  only 
point  of  likeness  remaining  being  its  shape.  The 
original  simple  way  of  mounting  them  in  rings  is 
at  once  naYve  and  charming.  A  wire  band  of  suit- 
able length  was  prepared  with  the  ends  flattened 
and  holes  drilled  in  them  ;  a  thin  wire  was  wound 
round  this  shank  and  passed  first  through  the  holes 
in    the    metal,   then    through    the   scarab   and    the 


RINGS  263 

metal  on  the  other  side,  and  again  wound  round 
the  shank.  This  permitted  the  seal  to  revolve,  so 
that  when  on  the  hand  the  beetle's  back  only  was 
seen,  the  delicate  cutting  of  the  seal  being  inside 
next  the  skin.  Later,  the  seal  was  made  of  the  same 
material  as  the  rest  of  the  ring  and  was  fixed  in 
position.  The  Etruscan  seal-rings  sometimes  are  set 
with  a  scarab  closely  resembling  the  Egyptian  ones. 
One  kind  of  signet  seems  to  be  peculiar  to  the  Etrus- 
cans. These  rings  are  made  of  gold  only,  having  no 
stones  or  ornament.  The  bezel  is  oblong,  and  the 
flat  surface  is  worked  in  a  design  generally  in  intaglio, 
though  some  are  in  relief.  The  gold  is  only  a  thin 
shell,  and  has  been  filled  in  with  melted  tin  after 
being  made.  The  main  idea  and  pattern  of  this  ring 
is  probably  of  Oriental  origin.  Among  the  Romans, 
the  signet  ring  played  a  most  important  part,  and  was 
set  with  an  engraved  gem  as  a  rule,  but  sometimes  the 
device  was  cut  into  the  metal  of  the  ring  itself.  They 
were  fond  of  having  the  seal  in  some  way  significant 
of  the  name,  actions,  or  character  of  the  owner.  The 
fashion  of  engraved  gems  in  Byzantine  times  only 
varied  with  regard  to  the  design,  which  partook 
of  a  Christian  character.  Our  Teutonic  ancestors 
also  made  use  of  engraved  stones,  and  as  they  cut 
very  few  themselves  it  was  usual  to  have  a  Greek  or 
Roman  stone  set  as  a  signet  They  preferred  those 
which  could  be  construed  as  Christian  subjects. 
The  heads  of  Greek  gods  were  given  the  names  of 
saints  or  our  Lord,  and  such  a  subject  as  Jupiter  and 
his  eagle  would  be  considered  to  represent  St.  John. 
Some  of  the  seals  are  mounted  in  a  style  known 

13 


264        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

as  the  "three  grains" — that  is  to  say,  three  beads 
or  balls  are  found  at  the  junction  of  the  bezel  with 
the  hoop.  The  engraving  on  these  is  often  of  a 
most  barbaric  character.  During  the  Renaissance 
the  love  of  antique  or  pseudo-antique  engraved 
gems  reached  its  height,  but  there  were  also  in 
use  signet  rings  with  armorial  bearings,  similar  in 
character  to  those  which  we  now  use.  These  were 
introduced  into  Italy  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
thence  the  fashion  spread,  arriving  in  this  country 
about  the  sixteenth  century,  and  they  have  been  in 
use  ever  since,  though  (especially  in  the  eighteenth 
century)  Etiglish  people  often  used  antiques  for 
sealing  purposes.  Ladies  were  very  partial  to  fancy 
stones  cut  with  pretty  symbols  and  mottoes,  but  these 
were  more  usually  set  as  seals  than  in  rings. 

Merchant's  Mark  rings  are  found  of  various  dates 
from  the  fifteenth  century.  They  are  often  of  bronze, 
brass,  or  latten,  and  were  of  great  importance  in  a 
time  when  even  a  well-to-do  merchant  frequently 
could  not  write.  Each,  therefore,  selected  his  mark — 
often  initials  or  a  simple  device,  which  no  doubt  was 
also  used  as  a  kind  of  trade-mark,  and  this  was 
engraved  and  used  in  the  same  way  as  armorial 
bearings  would  be  used  by  those  entitled  to  them. 

Posy  Rings. — During  the  Middle  Ages  numerous 
forms  of  the  ring  were  elaborated,  perhaps  the  best 
known  being  what  is  called  the  Posy,  Chanson,  or 
Motto  ring.  A  gift  of  flowers  was  often  made  at 
the  same  time,  and  the  term  "poesie,"  originally 
bestowed  on  the  ring  because  of  the  poetry  engraved 
on  it   has   been  transferred   to  the  bouqu^.     The 


RINGS  265 

mottoes  are  generally  of  a  religious  character,  or  else 
a  love  motto.  Sometimes,  however,  they  were 
humorous.  One  cannot  help  being  a  little  surprised 
that  the  lady,  who  having  buried  three  husbands, 
caused  to  be  engraved  on  the  wedding-ring  used 
when  she  took  to  herself  another  spouse, 

"  If  I  survive 
I  will  have  five,"  ' 

did  not  lose  her  chance  of  the  fourth. 

The   earlier   "  posies "   are    usually   in    French   or 

Latin,  and  are  mostly  inscribed  on  the  outside  of  the 

ring,   but    those    in    the    period 

when   they  are    most    numerous 

(the  sixteenth  to  the  eighteenth    r 

centuries)    generally     have     the    A 

motto  in  English,  and   engraved 

inside.  „,  , ,.      .  y.   , 

Wedding-nng.       Early 

Wedding-rings  have  been  in  eighteenth  century, 
use  from  very  early  days,  but 
the  early  Christians  do  not  appear  to  have  adopted 
them  till  about  860.  They  were  not  at  first  the 
plain  circlets  we  now  use,  but  were  often  highly 
decorated.  The  custom  was  of  pagan  origin,  and 
at  first  was  not  welcomed  by  the  Church.  Even 
in  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  the  custom  was 
considered  to  be  of  "heathenish  origin,"  and  was 
discouraged,  though  not  entirely  abandoned.  In 
some  countries  both  men  and  women  wear  them. 
No  doubt  many  of  the  posy  rings  were  made  for 
this  purpose,  including  those  with  mottoes  such 
as  "In>Jthee   my   choice   I   do   rejoice,"  "Tis  God 


266        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

above  doth  seal  our  love,"  "  Thou  hast  my  heart 
till  Death  doth  part,"  and  so  on.  A  quaint  one  runs, 
"  I  kiss  the  rod  from  thee  and  God." 

Jewish  Betrothal  and  Marriage-rings. — These  very 
curious  large  rings  are  not  meant  to  be  worn  in  the 
ordinary  way,  but  are  simply  used  at  a  certain  part 
of  the  ceremonial  and  are  then  removed ;  they 
are  then  kept  as  a  memento.  In  some  cases  they 
are  the  property  of  the  synagogue,  and  only  lent 
for  the  occasion.  The  little  house  which  forms 
the  bezel  represents  either  the  temple  or  the  ark 
of  the  Covenant.  These  rings  have  been  copied 
in  large  quantities,  and  genuine  old  specimens 
are  rare.  There  are  fine  examples  in  the  British 
Museum  of  sixteenth-  and  seventeenth-century 
origin. 

Poison  Rings. — These  were  known  to  the  ancients, 
but  most  of  those  that  have  survived  are  relics  of  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  They  were  of 
two  kinds :  in  the  one  case  the  bezel  contained  a  tiny 
box  in  which  poison  could  be  carried  by  those  who 
feared  long  imprisonment  or  torture ;  and,  the  other, 
the  annello  della  morie,  was  well  called  the  "  ring  of 
death,"  as  it  had  a  small  projecting  pin  impregnated 
with  poison,  a  scratch  from  which  speedily  ended  the 
existence  of  the  unfortunate  who  had  suffered  it. 
It  must  have  required  pretty  strong  nerves  to  wear 
these  rings,  as  there  must  always  have  been  the 
danger  of  an  accident  happening,  and  the  intending 
poisoner  meeting  the  doom  he  had  intended  for 
others.  Even  now  care  is  required  in  handling  them, 
as   lack   of  precaution   may  result   in   a  dangerous 


RINGS 


267 


wound,  the  poison  sometimes  retaining  its  virulence 
even  after  the  lapse  of  centuries. 

All  rings  with  little  boxes  in  them  are  not  poison 
rings,  however,  as  they  were  used  for  carrying  cos- 
metics, and  such  things  as  a  tiny  sundial,  a  miniature, 
or  relic. 

Oinunel,  Oemmel,  or  Oemmow  Rings. — This  name  is 
derived  from  ¥r.,  jumelle,  "twin":  they  were  two 
rings  so  constructed  that  they  formed  a  perfect  ring 
when  placed  together.  Sometimes  the  two  halves 
were  worn  by  betrothed  per- 
sons, and  both  were  worn 
by  the  wife  after  marriage, 
or  one  half  might  be  given 
by  persons  going  on  a  journey 
to  those  left  behind,  to  be 
a  kind  of  token  to  establish 
the  identity  of  a  messenger. 
They  were  also  sometimes 
made  of  three  or  more  parts, 
the  extra  piece  being  worn 
by  the  witnesses  to  the  com- 
pact. They  are  often  engraved  with  mottoes  or 
designs.  Sometimes  a  hand  is  modelled  on  each 
half,  and  when  the  two  parts  were  worn  together 
the  two  hands  appeared  clasped.  The  two  halves 
are  often  intertwined  so  that  they  cannot  be 
separated. 

Puzzle  Eings  seem  to  belong  to  the  same  family. 
These  rings  fall  into  several  parts,  which  have  to  be 
interlaced  before  they  can  be  worn.  There  are  many 
patterns,  and  they  are  favourites  in  Oriental  countries. 


Gimmel  Ring.     English. 
Sixteenth  century. 


268        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

Talisman  Rings. — Some  of  them  are  known  as 
Iconographic  rings,  because  they  have  engraved  on 
them  figures  of  saints  ;  they  were  considered  to  protect 
the  wearers  from  perils  of  fire  and  sword.  Others 
were  of  a  magical  character,  on  account  of  the  stones 
with  which  they  were  set,  or  the  characters  engraved 
on  them. 

Decade  Rings. — These  took  the  place  of  rosaries,  as 
they  had  ten  projections  and  a  bezel  or  large  knob. 
Each"projection  represented  an  Ave  and  the  bezel 


Giardinetti  Rings. 
Seventeenth  or  early 
Decade  Ring.  eighteenth  century. 

the    Paternoster.      They    may    date    back    to    the 
fourteenth  century. 

Sergeants'  Rings  were  made  for  presentation  to  all 
their  fellow-sergeants  and  others,  by  those  who  were 
admitted  to  the  degree  of  sergeant-at-law.  The  cus- 
tom was  a  very  old  one.  They  were  generally  plain 
bands  of  gold  without  bezels,  and  had  legal  mottoes 
engraved  on  them.  Quite  large  sums  had  to  be 
expended  in  providing  these  gifts,  which  were  rather 
a  tax  on  the  newly  admitted  sergeants.  Those 
presented  to  the  Chief  Justices  and  Chief  Barons  had 
to  weigh  twenty  shilling  apiece. 


RINGS 


269 


Oiardinetti  Rings. — These  were  among  the  most 
charming  of  the  rings  of  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries.  They  have  for  bezel  a  group 
of  flowers  worked  in  gold  and  coloured  stones. 
Sometimes  they  are  arranged  as  if  in  a  vase;  some- 
times there  is  a  group  composed  of  a  tiny  basket 
containing  the  flowers.  The  back  of  the  bezel  is 
generally  engraved  to  correspond  with  the  front,  and 
the  whole  effect  is  exceedingly  pretty  and  delicate. 
They  were  a  kind  of  translation  into  stone-work  of 


Marquise  Ring. 

End  of  eighteenth 

century. 


Marquise  Ring. 

End  of  eighteenth 

century. 


the  earlier  fancy  for  flowers  worked   in   gold,  and 
coloured  to  their  natural  tints  with  enamels. 

Marqnise  Bings. — These  very  graceful  and  distin- 
guished-looking rings  came  into  fashion  in  the  last 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  They  are  often 
very  large ;  sometimes  the  bezel  is  an  inch  and  a 
half  long,  thus  being  necessarily  the  only  ring  worn  on 
the  finger,  as  it  filled  the  space  between  the  knuckle 
and  the  first  joint.  The  shape  is  generally  oval  or 
a  long  octagonal.  The  background  is  of  blue  glass 
or  enamel,  over  ribbed  or  matted  gold,  curved  so  as 
to  fit  the  finger.      In  the  centre  is  either  a  single 


270        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

diamond,  or  several.  The  stones  are  always  set  in 
silver.  The  bezel  is  surrounded  with  a  border  of 
tiny  diamonds.  The  varieties  which  had  arisen,  and 
were  in  fashion  in  1785,  had  different  names  given 
to  them  according  to  the  arrangement  of  the  stones. 
A  translation  of  a  contemporary  French  fashion- 
paper  thus  describes  them  : — 

"  If  the  centre  stone  is  not  large  enough,  two 
smaller  ones  may  be  put  at  either  end  of  the  bezel, 
or  the  centre  one  may  be  surrounded  with  diamonds 
mounted  like  tiny  stars.  This  kind  of  ring  is  called 
au  firmament.  The  background  glass  may  be  of 
green,  sky  blue,  puce,  yellow,  or  grey.  When  in 
place  of  diamonds  coloured  stones  are  mounted  on 
the  paste  ground,  the  ring  is  called  en  enfantement. 
Sometimes  moss-agate  is  substituted  for  the  glass." 
Of  about  the  same  date  are  rings  with  large  bezels 
surrounded  with  diamonds,  the  centre  pav6  with 
various  coloured  stones. 

Le  Semaine. — This  is  another  French  ring  popular 
in  the  early  nineteenth  century.  The  seven  stones 
were  different  and  each  was  of  a  kind  which  had  for 
initial  the  same  letter  as  those  which  began  the  names 
of  the  days  of  the  week.  Somewhat  similar  were  the 
later  English  rings  of  the  nineteenth  century,  of 
which  the  initials  spelt  words  such  as  "dearest,"  or 
"darling,"  or  a  name,  such  as  the  late  King's  gift 
to  Queen  Alexandra  of  a  "  keeper "  ring,  the  stones 
having  initial  letters  spelling  "Bertie,"  which  was 
his  familiar  name. 

Memorial  Rings. — The  curious  custom  of  wearing 
mourning  rings  (other  forms  of  jewellery  were  also  used 


RINGS  271 

for  the  same  purpose)  was  in  very  general  use  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  They  are  of  particular  interest,  as 
often  they  are  dated  and  serve  as  a  kind  of  key  to 
the  work  in  vogue  at  the  time.  Those  of  the  six- 
teenth century  are  sometimes  most  marvellously 
executed.  One  which  is  in  the  Waddeston  room 
in  the  British  Museum  is  a  triumph  of  skill.  This 
has  coloured  stones  on  it,  but  the  majority  are  in 
black  enamel  or  niello  with  pearls  or  diamonds, 
though  sometimes  white  enamel  was  used.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  became 
customary  to  make  arrangements  in  wills  for  sums 
of  money  to  be  expended  in  gifts  of  these  mourning 
rings  to  be  presented  to  the  relatives  and  friends. 
They  were  formed  of  very  lugubrious  devices ;  skulls, 
cross-bones,  and  skeletons  being  favourite  items  in 
their  decoration. 

Mourning  rings  of  the  late  seventeenth  to  early 
eighteenth  centuries  are  embellished  with  exceedingly 
fine  filigree  work  in  gold,  sometimes  backed  by  a 
little  woven  strand  of  hair  and  sometimes  mounted 
on  silk.  These  have  a  thick  crystal  over  them, 
generally  faceted  or  table-cut.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century  the  tiny  black  and  white 
paintings  used  also  in  lockets  and  brooches  were 
mounted  in  rings,  and  were  wonderfully  delicately 
done,  showing  the  details  up  distinctly,  no  matter 
how  small  the  picture. 

Cameo  Rings. — For  information  as  to  rings  set  with 
cameos  refer  to  the  chapter  on  that  subject. 

Episcopal  Kings. — The  earliest  dated  documents  in 
which  these  are  mentioned  is  dated  633,  but  they  are 


272        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

mentioned  in  rubrics  thought  to  be  earlier.  The 
ring  was  endowed  with  mystical  significance,  and  was 
generally  of  gold  set  with  a  jewel,  often  a  sapphire. 
In  conferring  the  office  on  a  Bishop  the  ring  and 
pastoral  staff  went  together. 

Possibly  originally  it  may  have  been  a  symbol  of 
authority,  as  given  by  the  Emperor  and  returned  to 
him  on  the  Bishop's  death  ;  but  later  it  was  buried 
with  the  owner.  They  are  larger  than  ordinary 
rings,  as  they  were  worn  over  a  glove.  They  are 
very  uncommon  in  private  collections,  as  they  are 
mostly  preserved  at  the  Cathedrals  where  they  have 
been  found. 


Jade  Archer's  Ring. 
Episcopal  Rings.  Indian  workmanship  (Delhi). 


IX 

BUCKLES 

MORE  PARTICULARLY 

SHOE  BUCKLES 


CHAPTER  IX 

BUCKLES  (MORE  PARTICULARLY  SHOE  BUCKLES) 

The  ordinary  buckle  would  seem  to  be  a  develop- 
ment of  the  ring  brooch  of  ancient  times,  but  differs 
from  it  in  that  one  side  has  a  device  for  fastening  it 
more  or  less  permanently  to  the  garment,  strap, 
girdle,  or  whatever  it  was  meant  to  secure.  They 
were  used  in  early  and  mediaeval  times  for  many 
purposes,  and  beautifully  ornamented  specimens 
have  been  found,  which  are  considered  to  have 
formed  parts  of  harness  or  trappings  for  horses. 
As  girdles  or  belt  fasteners,  too,  they  held  a  high 
place  among  the  ornaments  worn  by  both  men  and 
women.  It  is  not  known  exactly  at  what  date  they 
came  into  general  use  as  shoe  fasteners.  We  may 
probably  take  it  that  they  were  introduced  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  became  fairly  common 
during  the  following  hundred  years.  <  They  were 
shown  on  a  brass  which  used  to  exist  at  Lynn, 
Norfolk,  of  one  Robert  Attelath,  who  died  in  1376.^ 

'  With  regard  to  this  brass,  I  an.  favoured  by  Mr.  Beloe,  of  Lynn, 
with  the  following  note  :  "  The  Brass  does  not  exist.  It  is  noted  as 
extant  on  p.  27  of  Mackerell's  '  Lynn '  (1738).  In  1780  it  existed,  and 
Craven  Ord  took  a  reversed  impression  of  it,  which  is  preserved  in  the 

9T9 


276        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 


Throughout  the  sixteenth  century  shoe  buckles 
were  worn  to  a  certain  extent,  and  more  or  less  in  the 
early  seventeenth.  During  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 
they  were  exceedingly  fashionable,  and  the  fine 
buckled  shoes  were  the  pride  of  the  wearers,  who 
struggled  to  keep  them  out  of  the  mire  with  which  the 
roads  and  streets  were  smothered.  Samuel  Pepys 
records  in  his  diary  January  22,  1659-60 :  "This  day 
I  began  to  put  buckles  on  my  shoes,  which  I  have 
bought  yesterday  from  Mr.  Wotton."  Throughout 
the  succeeding  reign  they 
became  of  little  importance, 
and  by  the  end  of  the 
century  were  replaced  by 
rosettes  of  kilted  and  plaited 
silk.  Under  William  II. 
however,  small  buckles  were 
worn  ;  and  then  smallish 
buckles  on  shoes  with  high 
red  heels  and  broad  square 
toes  became  the  fashion  for 
men,  while  the  dainty  ladies 
of  the  time  spared  no  expense  in  making  the 
fastenings  of  their  Court  shoes  and  clogs  as  pretty 
as  possible.  Their  size  and  importance  increased, 
and  Beau  Nash  is  described  as  appearing  at  Bath 
in    1730    in    "high-heeled    pumps    crossed    on    the 

British    Museum.     This    I  have  had   reproduced    in   my  series    of 
•Monumental  Brasses  in  Norfolk,'  three  parts,  25  plates,   1888-9. 

"  I  believe  I  am  right  in  saying  this  is  the  brass  which  the  sexton  stole, 
and  he  afterwards  hanged  himself  in  the  belfry  sooner  than  be  tried 
for  it.  Would  he  had  hanged  himself  before  !  (My  father  M.B.,  sr. 
(ob.  1907  at  80),  knew  the  thief  s  nephew.)— E.  M.  B." 


Shoe  Buckle.  First  half  of 
the  eighteenth  century. 
Set  coloured  pastes. 


BUCKLES 


277 


instep  with  huge  buckles  that  gh'mmer  with  a 
hundred  twinkling  lights,"  which  no  doubt  were  the 
pinnacle  of  fashion  ;  and  -a  little  later  Mr.  Wortley 
(Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu's  son)  is  described  as 
being  "  worth  £2,500  in  buttons  and  buckles."  Then 
suddenly  they  went  out  of  fashion,  and  in  the  last 
years  of  the  century  they  had  gone  so  much  out  of 
use  that  every  effort  was  made  to  keep  up  the  trade 
for  the  sake  of  the  workers, 
who  were  being  thrown  out 
of  employment  by  the  disuse 
of  the  ornament.  It  shows 
the  dimensions  the  trade  had 
assumed,  when  it  was  esti- 
mated that  in  1791  at  least 
twenty  thousand  hands  would 
be  thrown  out  of  work  by 
the  change  of  the  mode  of 
fastening  shoes. 

But  "  Fashion  knows  no 
king,"  and  in  spite  of  the 
efforts  of  distinguished  people, 
such  as  Sheridan,  who  brought 
the   matter  to   the   notice  of 

the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  the  sympathy  of  the  'Duke 
of  York,  it  was  impossible  to  check  the  tide,  and  by 
1800  the  trade  was  very  nearly  dead.^ 

With  such  numbers  being  made  it  is  no  wonder 
that  specimens  are  still  fairly  common.  Buckles  are 
to  be  found  made  of  nearly  every  metal.  The 
earliest  are  of  steel  or  brass,  as  a  rule.  We  do  not 
find  enamelled  shoe  buckles  of  Renaissance  date  in 


Paste  Buckle.  The  brilliant- 
cut  "  stones  "  are  set  in 
pewter.  A  "  bright-cut  " 
silver  rim  is  on  we  inner 
edge. 


278        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 


a  similar  style  to  that  in  which  every  other  kind  of 
ornament  was  decorated  ;  no  doubt  they  were  not 
made.  It  is  when  we  come  to  the  eighteenth 
century  that  we  find  the  greatest  variety  of  material 
and  the  utmost  beauty  of  design  and  workmanship 
lavished  on  them.  The  richest  of  all,  of  course,  were 
of  diamonds  (rose  cut  or  brilliants)  set  in  solid  silver, 
and  those  who  could  not  afford  them  had  paste  or 
other  substitutes  of  similar  effect  set  in  the  same 
way.  These  are  far  from  uncommon,  but  are  in  con- 
siderable demand,  as,  especi- 
ally in  the  smaller  sizes,  they 
make  charming  ornaments 
for  neck  wear.  Those  are 
most  prized  in  which  the 
stones  are  each  shaped  to 
fit  their  position  in  the 
design. 

Rich  specimens  were  made 
of  gold,  either  solid,  or  of 
open-work  more  or  less 
ornate,  and  were  used  for  day  wear  by  the  Court, 
and  by  the  more  sedate  though  prosperous  classes, 
for  best.  Silver-gilt  was  naturally  made  in  similar 
patterns,  but  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  even  the 
plainer  kinds  had  an  individuality  of  their  own, 
and  a  very  large  collection  may  be  made  without 
including  two  exactly  alike.  The  silver  buckles 
are  among  the  most  common,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  most  interesting.  Gold  ones  were  of  course 
more  likely  to  be  melted  up  for  the  value  of  the 
metal ;   while  silver  specimens,  with  any  pretension 


Heavy  Brass  Shoe  Buckle. 
About  1740. 


BUCKLES 


279 


to  beauty  of  workmanship,  were  put  on  one  side  and 
kept.  Of  special  note  are  those  of  carved  silver,  on 
which  the  metal  has  been  worked,  by  means  of 
cutting  tools,  into  the  requisite  patterns.  They  do 
not  very  often  seem  to  have  been  made  of  cast 
metal  which  is  more  brittle  than  sheet.  It  may  have 
been  found  not  to  wear  well  in  such  fine  things,  and 
therefore  this  process  may  not  have  been  used,  or  the 
specimens  that  were  made  may  not  have  survived. 
At  any  rate,  they  are  not  very  common  at  the  present 
day.  It  is  a  pity  that 
so  few  of  these  silver 
ones  were  hall-marked, 
as  the  exact  dates  would 
then  have  been  known. 

A  great  many  buckles 
were  made  of  faceted 
silver,  that  is  to  say,  the 
metal  is  cut  into  numer- 
ous little  sparkling  points 
in  the  same  style  which 

was  revived  about  twenty  years  ago.  These  later  ones, 
however,  were  almost  always  of  silly,  trivial  designs. 
The  shoe  buckles  were  not  made  so  sharply  curved 
as  the  old  ones,  and  there  was  a  lack  of  the  irtdivi- 
dual  care  and  attention  which  was  given  in  former 
times.  Cut  steel  followed  the  faceted  .silver  in  the 
general  class  of  design,  and  for  plain  and  general 
wear  the  polished  steel  was  very  usual. 

Other  materials  of  which  shoe  buckles  were  made 
are  pewter,  enamel,  mother-of-pearl  set  in  brass, 
sapphire  paste,  Wedgwood  cameos  (specially  made 

14 


Buckle.  Middle  of  eighteenth 
century.  Discs  of  mother-of- 
pearl  pinned  on  to  brass  ground. 


280 


CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 


for  the  purpose),  Pinchbeck,  jet,  tin,  and  blackened 
iron  or  steel.  They  were  also  made  with  the  blue 
glass  marquise  background.  A  fastening  which  did 
away  with  the  second  set  of  prongs  is  known  as  Ely's 
patent  fastening.  It  is  a  kind  of  spring  box,  and  the 
patent  for  it  was  taken  out  in  1784.  These  buckles 
were  principally  made  in  London,  but  there  were 
also  manufacturers  at  Birmingham,  Walsall,  Wolver- 
hampton, and  Bath  for  the 
metal  kinds,  while  the  Lon- 
don trade  was  mainly  in 
the  more  valuable  varieties. 
One  of  the  best  collections 
of  shoe  buckles  ever  got 
together  is  that  of  Sir 
Spencer  Ponsonby  Fane, 
who  has  over  four  hundred 
varieties,  mainly  of  eigh- 
teenth -  century  origin,  a 
great  many  of  which  are 
of  most  exquisite  materials 
and  workmanship.  These 
beautiful  shoe  buckles  speak 
to  us  of  a  time  when  men  had  more  leisure  than  now, 
both  the  workman  who  made  them,  and  the  wearer, 
who  took  infinite  pains  over  such  details.  Sometimes, 
even,  the  diamond  buckles  for  the  shoes  would  match 
in  pattern  those  of  the  breeches  fastenings,  the 
latter  being  of  smaller  size.  No  doubt  the  exquisite 
thus  adorned  plumed  himself  over  his  rivals,  who 
had  not  been  so  thoughtful  ;  for  this  was  the  time 
when  "  the  nice  conduct  of  a  clouded  cane  "  was  the 


French   Shoe   Buckle.     Gold 
set  with  paste  diamonds. 


BUCKLES  281 

making  of  a  gentleman  of  fashion.  In  France 
buckles  followed  nearly  the  same  course.  They 
were  much  worn  during  the  last  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth and  the  whole  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  enormous  sums  were  spent  on  them.  For 
instance,  the  Count  of  St.  Germain  expended  nearly 
two  hundred  thousand  livres  on  a  single  pair,  and  the 
King  had  a  pair  worth  nearly  as  much.  (He  gave 
Mddle.  Matignan  some  waist  buckles  set  with  seventy- 
two  brilliants,  worth  twenty-four  thousand  livres.) 
Shoe  buckles  went  out  of  fashion  at  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century  ;  the  reason  is  a  matter  of  history, 
When  under  the  Republic  the  public  finances  ran  low, 
a  country  town  sent  as  its  contribution  all  the  silver 
shoe  buckles  of  the  neighbourhood,  and  the  members 
of  the  National  Assembly  followed  suit.  We  find  an 
amusing  account  of  the  event  in  some  verses  which 
appear  in  Le  Nouveau  Journal  of  the  time : — 

"  D'Ailly  se  leve,  il  s'6crie, 
Ah !  Messieurs,  quel  beau  mouvement ! 
Imitons,  Je  vous  supplie. 
Un  example  si  touchant. 
Et  dans  I'instant. 
Sur  I'autel  de  la  Patrie, 
Oflfrons  nos  boucles  d'argent ! 
On  applaudit,  un  saint  transport 
A  saissit  I'Assembl^. 
Aussitot,  d'un  common  accord 
La  voila  de-boucl^e!" 

It  was  an  extraordinary  thing  how  soon  the  fashion 
of  going  without   buckles,  which  had  its  origin  in 


282        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

France,  was  followed  in  England,  where  the  general 
public  insisted  on  doing  without  them  in  spite  of 
them  remaining  in  favour  at  Court,  where  the  wearing 
of  strings  was  looked  on  as  a  mark  of  Jacobinism. 
They  have  ever  since,  down  to  the  present  day, 
formed  part  of  the  Court  dress.  They  were  also  worn 
by  bishops,  judges,  and  in  Highland  full  dress. 

Other  buckles  of  the  eighteenth  century  which  are 
of  interest  are  the  waist  buckles,  which  followed  the 
general  fashion  of  the  shoe  buckles  fairly  closely. 
They  differ  somewhat  in  shape,  the  greatest  dimen- 
sions being  in  the  length  instead  of  the  breadth. 
Shoe  buckles  may  be  distinguished  by  their  much 
greater  curvature,  sometimes  almost  semicircular. 
They  were  often  of  paste,  cut  steel,  Wedgwood  ware, 
&c.,  but  were  seldom  made  of  real  diamonds  or 
rubies. 

There  are  several  good  collections  of  buckles  in 
private  hands,  but  there  is  not  a  really  representative 
one  in  either  of  the  National  Museums.  They  are 
interesting  things  to  collect,  as  many  nice  specimens 
can  be  got  for  a  shilling  or  two  ;  but  good  paste  ones 
have  gone  up  enormously  in  value  of  late  years. 

Sir  Spencer  Ponsonby  Fane,  whose  splendid  collec- 
tion is  mentioned  above,  tells  us  that  he  started 
it  with  a  pair  which  he  picked  up  for  a  shilling.  All 
collectors  should  read  his  most  interesting  article  in 
the  Connoisseur  of  June,  1905,  which  gives  many 
valuable  anecdotes  and  historical  notes. 


PAINTERS 

AND 

GOLDSMITH 


CHAPTER  X 

PAINTERS    AND    JEWELS  OF  THE   FIFTEENTH    AND 
SIXTEENTH    CENTURIES 

In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  there  was 
a  very  close  connection  and  sympathy  between 
painters  and  goldsmiths.  Socially,  they  were  on 
quite  the  same  level,  for  in  those  days  a  man  who 
made  a  supremely  beautiful  thing  was  honoured 
independently  of  the  detail  as  to  whether  it  was  a 
fresco,  a  statue,  a  gate,  a  cathedral,  or  a  jewel.  Of 
course,  the  painters  of  those  times  were  not  ex- 
clusively painters  of  easel  picture,  as  most  of  our 
artists  are  to-day.  They  found  their  work  in  the 
decoration  of  altars,  frescoes,  even  wedding  chests 
and  processional  banners,  without  feeling  that  in 
thus  bringing  the  beautiful  into  the  immediate  life 
of  those  around  them  they  were  in  any  way 
personally  condescending,  or  that  their  art  was  de- 
graded thereby.  Many  of  them  had  started  life 
as  goldsmiths,  and  even  continued  that  profession 
simultaneously  with  the  other  of  producing  the 
panels,  frescoes,  and  altar-pieces  on  which  their 
latter-day  fame  rests.  For  alas !  much  of  the  gold- 
smith's   work    and    jewellery    of   this    period     has 

ass 


286        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

perished ;  the  gold  gone  into  the  melting-pot,  and 
the  beautiful  stones,  reset  and  too  often  recut,  have 
reappeared  in  other  forms.  A  good  number  of 
pieces  have  indeed  escaped — most  of  them,  probably, 
because  of  the  comparatively  slight  value  of  the 
metal  and  stones,  in  proportion  to  their  beauty,  as 
the  greater  part  that  we  have  are  of  enamel ;  but 
very  many  which  consisted  of  fine  stones  in  beauti- 
ful goldwork  have  gone. 

It  is  of  great  importance,  therefore,  to  study  the 
works  of  the  masters  of  painting  of  those  days  with 
a  view  to  finding  out  what  class  of  jewel  they  made 
and  approved  (because  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that 
in  their  pictures  they  would  reproduce  their  own 
designs  or  those  that  they  admired  especially,  when 
they  saw  them  worn  by  those  around  them). 

There  are  certain  names  which  are  generally 
grouped  together  and  sometimes  known  as  the 
"  Goldsmith  Painters,"  and  foremost  of  these  is  Sandro 
Botticelli  ( 1 447- 1 5 1  o). 

In  his  youth  he  was,  on  account  of  his  aversion 
from  "  reading,  writing,  and  accounts,"  handed  over 
by  his  father  in  despair  to  a  competent  master  in 
goldsmiths'  work.  Not  that  he  stayed  with  him  long, 
but  evidently  long  enough  to  learn  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  art,  so  that  he  treats  jewels  lovingly 
and  understandingly  when  he  paints  them.  He  does 
not  plaster  his  figures  with  endless  trinkets,  but  his 
love  and  knowledge  are  shown  in  such  details  as 
the  beautiful  pendants  which  hang  round  the  necks 
of  the  dancing  figures  in  the  Primavera.  The 
flowers  in  "  Spring's "   coronal   always   seem   to  me 


PAINTERS  AND  GOLDSMITHS       287 

to  be  arranged  as  gems  would  be  in  a  golden  crown, 
and  the  same  spirit  pervades  the  wreath  on  the  head 
of  Pallas. 

Pollaiuolo  is  another  of  these  goldsmith  painters, 
and  indeed  it  is  a  question  whether  his  metal  work 
did  not  come  first  with  him,  so  vast  and  so  magni- 
ficent was  his  work  in  this  direction.  His  pictures 
are  full  of  reproductions  of  what  he  did  ;  evidently 
his  enamelling  and  gold  and  silversmith's  work  was 
constantly  in  his  mind. 

Domenico  Qhirlandajo  is  said  by 
Vasari  to  have  been  so  called 
because  he  invented  the  metal 
garlands  worn  by  the  girls  of 
Florence  on  their  heads  on  f^te 
days,  but  they  were  in  use  long 
before  his  time ;  still,  it  is  probable 
that  his  family  was  noted  for  their 
manufacture,  and  he  most  likely 
made  them.  If  so,  he  surely  made  G&n'(kTo.^i44^^ 
them  well.  The  jewel  illustrated 
is  sketched  from  his  picture  of  the  "  Visitation " 
in  the  Louvre,  where  it  holds  St.  Anne's  cloak 
together.  It  is  a  type  of  ornament  which  is  repeated 
again  and  again.  A  large  coloured  stone  (often  a 
ruby)  is  surrounded  by  a  row  of  pearls.  Sometimes 
these  are  all  of  a  size,  but  often  varied  as  shown. 
It  is  a  natural  grouping,  well  calculated  to  concen- 
trate attention  on  the  beauty,  and  especially  on  the 
fine  colour,  of  the  stones,  and  is  used  by  all  the 
painters  of  the  time,  much  more  often  than  any 
other.     Frequently  we   find  the  whole  ornament  is 


PAINTERS  AND  GOLDSMITHS 

1.  The    Lyte   jewel,   made    about    1611,   containing  a    portrait  of 

James  I.     The  reverse  is  most  exquisitely  enamelled. 

2.  The  Phoenix  jewel.     A  portrait  of  Queen  Elizabeth  cut  from  the 

Phoenix  medal  (1574),  and  surrounded  with  a  wreath  of  York 
and  Lancaster  roses.  The  flowers  are  enamelled  red  and 
white.     There  has  been  a  pearl  or  other  stone  hanging  below. 

3.  A  Venetian  jewel.     Late  sixteenth  century.    A  "  Pelican  in  her 

Piety  "  standing  on  a  coral  fish  or  sea  monster. 


388 


289 


PAINTERS  AND  GOLDSMITHS       291 


circular.  Sometimes  the  centre  stone  has  only  four 
pearls  round,  one  at  the  top  and  bottom,  and  one 
each  side.  A  portrait  of  a  goldsmith  in  the  Pitti 
Palace  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  being  by  this 
Ghirlandajo,  but  in  reality  it  is  by  his  son  Ridolpho. 
He  represents  the  subject  as  earnestly  studying  a 
pendant  which  he  holds  in  his  hand.  It  is  not  all 
visible,  but  a  part  of  a  bird  (a  pelican  in 
its  piety)  is  shown,  and  it  must  have 
been  somewhat  like  the  one  illustrated 
on  page  289  (No.  3),  though  this  is 
probably  rather  later  in  date  (end  of 
sixteenth  century j. 

Albert  Diirer  was  the  son  of  a  gold- 
smith (his  mother,  too,  was  descended 
from  one  of  the  craft),  and  in  many  of 
his  works  are  found  beautifully  depicted 
jewels,  which   may  very  probably  be   of  From  "The 


Virgin  and 
Child,  with 
John  the 
Baptist  and 
Mary  M^- 
dalene,"  by 
Mant^na. 
1431-1506. 


original  design. 

It  is  exceedingly  curious  that  while 
the  love  of  Greek  antiques  simply  per- 
meated the  Renaissance  atmosphere,  there 
should  have  been  very  slight  traces  of  any 
attempt  to  copy  their  style  of  working, 
either  in  the  aesigns  for  jewellery,  the  pictured  jewels, 
or  in  the  actual  objects  themselves  which  have  come 
down  to  us,  always  excepting  their  cameos. 

The  only  piece  of  "  Painter's  jewellery "  that  I 
have  been  able  to  find  obviously  based  on  a  Greek 
design  (the  well-known  palmetto)  occurs  in  the  clasp 
of  Mary  Magdalene's  cloak  in  Mantegna's  picture 
of  the   "  Blessed   Virgin  and  Child,   with  John  the 


292        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 


Baptist  and  Mary  Magdalene,"  in  the  National 
Gallery.  There  may  probably  be  others,  but  I  think 
they  must  be  few.  Certainly  the  Greek  style  of 
gold-working  was  not  much  followed  by  the  crafts- 
men of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  It 
is  said  that  when  the  Pope  showed  Cellini  an 
ancient  Etruscan  necklace,  asking  why  he  did  not 
copy  it,  he  replied  : — 

"Let  us  not  endeavour  to 
imitate  them,  for  in  this  style 
we  should  have  to  own  our- 
selves their  humble  servants, 
but  let  us  rather  strike  out 
a  line  of  our  own."  ^  He 
would,  no  doubt,  much  dislike 
owning  himself  beaten  if  he 
had  attempted  it,  so  we  do 
not  know  if  he  did.  He 
mentions  the  granulated  style 
in  his  "  Treatise,"  but  none 
of  the  jewels  ascribed  to  him 
by  tradition  shows  any  sign 
of  its  influence,  though  in 
common  with  his  contempo- 
raries, he  studied  the  sculpture  of  the  ancients  and 
introduced  classic  gods  and  goddesses  wherever 
possible. 

Holbein  designed  a  great  many  jewels  of  most 
intricate  workmanship,  which  no  doubt  were  carried 
out,  under  his  superintendence,  by  his  great  friend 

'  I  do  not  find  this  passage  in  my  copy  of  Cellini's  Life,  but  it  is 
quoted  by  many  writers  as  being  one  of  bis  sayings. 


Design  by  Holbein  for  a 
Pendant. 


PAINTERS  AND  GOLDSMITHS       293 

John  of  Antwerp,  who  we  know  made  most  important 
jewels  for  Henry  VIII.,  and  was  employed  by  Thomas 
Cromwell  to  make  gold  chains,  rings,  and  collars  of 
the  Garter.  Holbein's  designs  were  very  elaborate 
and  beautiful,  the  balance  of  the  parts  being  particu- 
larly noticeable.  Some  of  these  were  obviously  in- 
tended to  show  up  the  beauty  of  perfect  stones,  but 
in  all  the  metal  work  has  its  due  importance.  A 
most  interesting  identification  has  been  made  of  a 
jewel  designed  by  Holbein  with  that  worn  by  Queen 
Catherine  Howard  in  his  portrait  of  her,  of  which  a 
copy  exists  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery.  The 
drawing  for  the  pendant  is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
Large  stones,  somewhat  formally  set,  are,  however, 
more  prominent  in  some  of  the  Royal  portraits, 
notably  that  at  Windsor  Castle  of  Henry  VI 1 1.,  in 
which  almost  every  available  spot  on  his  garments  is 
thus  decorated.  One  feels  sure  that  the  taste  of  that 
much-married  monarch  must  have  had  something  to 
do  with  it,  and  it  would  be  interesting  to  know  if  he 
himself  selected  the  ornaments  which  were  to  be 
honoured  by  being  thus  immortalised.  His  daughter, 
Queen  Elizabeth,  took,  we  are  told,  the  keenest  inter- 
est in  her  "  counterfeit  presentments,"  and  a  very 
interesting  conversation  she  had  with  the  great  gold- 
smith, Nicolas  Hilliard,  has  been  recorded.  He  ^was 
also  a  miniature  painter,  and  while  engaged  on  a 
portrait  of  her  Majesty,  she  asked  him  : — 

"  Why  the  Italians  "  (then  reputed  to  be  the  "  cun- 
ningest "  and  to  draw  best)  "  shadowed  not  ?  " 

On  considering  the  matter  he  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion, he  tells  us,  that  her  Majesty  was  right,  and  that 


294        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

for  small  portraits,  especially  those  to  be  held  in  the 
hand,  what  he  calls  "  gross  lynes  "  (dark  shadows,  as 
we  should  say),  are  not  suitable,  and  he  approved  of 
the  Queen's  desire  to  "  Sit  in  the  open  alley  of  a  good 
garden."  This  is  so  often  incorrectly  quoted,  as  if  it 
were  a  foolish  piece  of  vanity  on  her  part,  that  it  is 
worth  noting  that  when  a  miniature  is  to  be  used  as 
a  part  of  a  personal  ornament — for  instance,  if  it  is  to 
be  worn  as  a  pendant — there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
"  slightly  shadowed  "  miniatures  are  best. 

Queen    Elizabeth   was    fond    of 
giving  her  portrait  in  various  forms 
as  a  present,  and  numerous  speci- 
mens are  extant.     The  one  illus- 
trated  on  page  289  is  worked  in 
gold     with     a     most     beautifully 
executed  enamel  wreath  round  it. 
It  is  cut  out  of  a  medal  known  as 
the  "  Phoenix "  medal,  on  account 
From  "A  Concert,"    of  the  design  of  the  reverse, 
by  Ercoie  di' Roberti.        Qne    of    the    most    interesting 
1450-96.  .  -. 

pendants    in    a    fifteenth  -  century 

picture  is  that  worn  by  the  lady  in  "A  Concert," 
by  Ercoie  di  Roberti  (1450-96)  in  the  Salting  col- 
lection in  the  National  Gallery.  So  carefully  and 
accurately  is  it  painted  that  it  could  be  copied  easily 
with  every  detail  correct,  and  would  make  a  very 
beautiful  ornament. 

An  ornate  enamelled  and  jewelled  pendant  is  worn 
by  Jacqueline  de  Bourgoyne  in  her  portrait  by  Van 
Gossart  de  Mabuse  (1470-1541).  Surrounding  the 
central   stones  is  a  dark  band  bearing  traces  of  a 


PAINTERS  AND  GOLDSMITHS       295 

motto,  which  one  can  almost  read  but  not  quite. 
Here  again  the  manner  which  the  pendant  is  de- 
picted is  so  faithful  to  the  original  that  the  way  each 
stone  is  set  is  perfectly  shown,  and  a  skilled  gold- 
smith would  be  able  to  make  one,  not  only  similar  in 
general  appearance,  but  in  which  the  technique  would 
be  the  same.  The  curious  semi-claw  settings  are 
shown  in  most  pieces  of  jewellery  of  about  this  date 
and  earlier,  and  must  have  much  enhanced  the  beauty 
of  the  stones  by  throwing  broken  lights  and  reflec- 
tions through  them. 

One  of  the  few  cases  in  which  the 
jewel  shown  in  an  old  picture  can  be 
identified  with  the  actual  object,  is  the 
Lyte  Jewel,  which  is  still  extant.  It 
is  a  most  beautiful  work  of  art,  both  as 
to  the  painting  of  the  miniature  and 
also  the  craftsmanship  of  the  gold 
and  enamel  frame,  both  most  probably 
by  Nicholas  Hilliard.  See  page  289.  From  a  portrait 
It  was  presented  to  Mr.  Lyte  as  a  ^^70^^^' 
token  of  King  James's  delight  at  a 
pedigree  drawn  up  for  him  by  that  worthy  gentle- 
man, showing  him  to  be  descended  from  Brut.  -This 
jewel  passed  out  of  the  family  into  that  of  Mony- 
peny,  who  sold  it  to  the  Duke  of  Hamilton.  Baron 
Ferdinand  de  Rothschild,  who  bought  it  at  the 
Hamilton  sale,  bequeathed  it  to  the  nation ;  but  the 
portrait  of  Thomas  Lyte,  painted  in  161 1,  is  still 
in  the  possession  of  the  family,  and  shows  this  parti- 
cular jewel. 

The  study  of  these  pictured  jewels  is  particularly 


296        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

valuable,  as  but  for  them  we  should  be  almost  igno- 
rant of  a  large  class  of  ornaments  of  the  fifteenth 
century  which  has  almost  entirely  perished ;  while 
though  we  are  richer  in  examples  of  sixteenth-cen- 
tury workmanship  we  may  learn  much  as  to  the 
method  of  wearing  them.  Jewels  which  would  be  at 
once  classed  as  neck  pendants  if  seen  apart,  are 
shown  in  portraits  of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  other 
ladies  of  that  date  pinned  on  to  the  elaborately 
dressed  coiffure  or  used  as  decorations  for  the  ruff. 


From  "  Salvator  Mundi," 

by  Quentin  Massys. 

1466-1530. 


XI 

DIAMONDS 
PRECIOUS  STONES 
AND  PEARLS 


15 


CHAPTER   XI 

DIAMONDS,   PRECIOUS  STONES,  AND   PEARLS 

Very  few  stones  of  any  kind  are  set  as   they  are 

found,  because  they  are  very  seldom  perfect  enough 

to  show  fully  the  colour  and  other  qualities  for  which 

they  are  prized  until  they  have  been  polished  or  cut. 

Stones  may  be  cut  in  facets  or  with  curved  surfaces ; 

and  generally  speaking  in   ancient   times,   down  to 

the  fourteenth  century,  all  stones 

were  given  curved  surfaces  ;  then 

gradually  it  became  customary 

to   facet  all   transparent   stones 

except   the   garnet  (which   was  / 

also  cut  with  a  curved  surface  and        ,  \,  .   „  ,    , 

1    V       /-xr  t  *•  f^'*'"  Cabocnon. 

known  as  a  carbuncle).     Of  late       ii.  Double  Cabochon. 

years   other   transparent  stones     \\;}-  j^^Z^l^^"""' 
have  again  been  cut  en  cabochon. 

To  begin  with  the  Curved  Surfaces. ,  Plain  cabo- 
chons  are  rounded  on  the  top,  with  a  flat  base.  This 
method  of  cutting  is  used  for  all  opaque  and  semi- 
opaque  stones,  such  as  turquoise,  opals,  and  star 
sapphires,  and  star  rubies ;  they  may  be  round  or 
oval  in  outline.  There  is  also  the  double  cabochon 
with  two  curved  surfaces,  the  under  one  being  more 

909 


300        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

or  less  curved  according  to  the  depth  of  colour  of 
the  stone. 

The  hollowed  cabochon  is  used  for  stones  which 
would  otherwise  be  too  dark,  and  a  very  much 
flattened  form  is  known  as  "  tallow-cut." 

The  ways  of  cutting  stone  in  facets  are  exceedingly 
numerous : — 

Octahedral.— This  being  the  natural  form  of  the 
diamond,  it  is  probable  that  those  stones  that  are 
of  this  shape  have  not  been  cut  at  all,  but  simply 
touched  up  to  perfect  the  angles. 

Table-cut. — This  though  a  simple  cut  is  of  great 
importance,  as  it  was  so  much  used  in  old  work  both 


Table-cut.  Step-cut.  Rose  Diamond. 

for  diamonds  and  coloured  stones.  Crystals  and  glass 
were  also  cut  in  this  way  for  covering  miniatures, 
and  the  pearl  and  gold  wire-work  of  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries.  Diamonds  cut  in  this 
manner  and  with  a  black  backing  are  hardly  recog- 
nisable as  such.  A  table-cut  stone,  as  its  name 
implies,  has  the  main  face  of  the  stone  cut  as  a  flat 
table  with  a  plain  bevelled  edge  ;  sometimes  there 
are  small  facets  round,  formed  by  further  cutting  the 
corners. 

Step  or  Trap-cut. — This  method  of  cutting  varies 
a  great  deal  in  the  number  and  proportion  of  the 
facets  ;  roughly,  it  consists  of  a  largish  flat  face,  two 


PRECIOUS  STONES  301 

or  more  bevels  at  different  angles  above  the  girdle, 
and  numerous  smaller  facets  following  the  same  lines 
beneath  the  girdle. 

Rose-cut. — In  this  method  of  cutting  all  the  facets 
are  nearly  of  a  size  and  triangular ;  it  is  one  of  the 
earlier  ways  of  cutting  diamonds,  and  the  stones 
shine  with  a  very  mellow  but  subdued  lustre.  They 
show  hardly  any  fire  or  coloured  flashes.  It  has  a 
flat  base.  There  is  also  the  double  rose-cut,  which 
may  be  imagined  as  two  roses  set  base  to  base. 
This  is  sometimes  called  the  Briolet  or  Briolette. 

A  Brilliant  should  be  cut  with  fifty-eight  facets, 
thirty-three  above  and  twenty-five 
below,  there  is  also  a  band  running 
between  the  two  halves,  known  as 
the  girdle,  which  is  the  only  part 
gripped  by  the  setting.  The  eight- 
sided  surface  at  the  top  is  much  Hobnail  Brilliant, 
,  , .  -  from  an  eighteenth- 

larger  than  the  correspondmg  facet         century  ring. 

within  the  settings,  but  the  greater 

depth  of  stone  is  below  (these  proportions  vary  and 

modern  cut  stones  have  more  facets). 

The  principal  stone  cut  in  this  way  is  the  diamond, 
and  the  word  "brilliant,"  used  by  itself,  is  generally 
taken  to  mean  a  diamond. 


Precious  Stones. 

The  Diamond. — As  mentioned  before,  the  natural 
form  of  this  stone  is  octohedral  generally  with 
slightly  curved  faces.  In  its  original  condition,  or 
just   polished   or  trimmed   a   little,   it   was  used  in 


302        CHATS  ON  OLD   JEWELLERY 

early  Renaissance  times,  when  it  was  fashionable 
to  write  various  mottoes  on  glass  windows  with  them. 
The  plain  table  was  the  first  artificial  cutting, 
then  its  corners  were  cut  off  to  form  additional 
facets ;  and  finally  the  "  rose,"  with  its  numerous 
triangular  faces,  paved  the  way  for  the  "brilliant," 
which,  as  its  name  implies,  is  far  ahead  in  that  par- 
ticular, which  is  now  considered  the  most  important 
characteristic  of  the  stone.  It  is  said  that  Louis 
van  Bergham  discovered  the  art  of  cutting  diamonds 
into  facets  in  1456,  and  that  he  formed  a  school 
for  carrying  on  the  art  at  Bruges. 

The  brilliant  as  now  used  in  a  slightly  altered 
form,  is  said  to  have  been  invented  by  one  Vincenti 
Peruggi  of  Venice,  late  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  principal  difference  in  the  present  cutting  is  that 
the  part  above  the  girdle  is  now  lower  in  proportion 
than  it  was.  Old  stones  are  often  of  a  squarish  form, 
known  as  "hobnails,"  while  now  they  are  oftener 
round. 

The  most  valuable  stones,  generally  speaking,  are 
those  very  pure  and  lustrous  white  ones  said  to  be 
of  "  first  water,"  though  coloured  ones  of  certain  tints 
are  also  much  sought  after.  A  really  deep  coloured 
stone  of  pure  tint  is  very  rare  and  valuable.  The 
blue  "  Hope "  diamond  is  probably  the  most  cele- 
brated, but  rose,  black,  mauve,  green,  and  salmon 
shades  are  also  known  and  are  of  considerable  value. 
The  yellow  ones  are  more  common,  and  a  yellowish 
shade  is  a  decided  detriment  to  a  stone.  Excep- 
tional stones  of  course  fetch  exceptional  prices,  and 
even  among  those  of  "  first  water  "  there  are  speci- 


PRECIOUS  STONES  303 

mens   found   which  eclipse  others.     These   niceties 
are  only  to  be  properly  estimated  by  experts,  who 
remove   the   stones   from   their    settings   and   place 
them  on  unglazed  paper  while  judging  them.     Dia- 
monds   are   sold   by    weight,   the   carat    being   the 
standard.     Its  actual  weight  has  varied  at  different 
dates  and  according  to  the  country.     It  has  gener- 
ally been  somewhere  about  3^  grains  Troy,  or  four 
diamond  grains.    There  are  one  or  two  tests  which 
may  help  the  amateur  to  distinguish  the  diamond, 
besides   the  one   of  scratching  glass,  which   is   not 
a  good   one,  as  some   pastes  will   cut  some  glass. 
Diamonds   removed    from   their  settings   lose   none 
of   their   brilliancy   by  being   placed   in  water,  and 
continue    to    flash    with    undiminished    brightness. 
There   is  also   a   saying  "You   cannot   wet  a  dia- 
mond,"   which    means   that    a   tiny   drop   of  water 
on   one  of  the  facets   remains   rolled  up   in   a  ball 
and   does  not  spread   over   the   surface   as  it    does 
on   glass  or  crystal.     But  these  are   merely  "  rule- 
of-thumb  "  tests.     The  best  plan  if  buying  diamonds 
of  any  importance  is  to  have  the  opinion  of  an  ex- 
perienced valuer,  who  is   accustomed   to  deal   with 
these  stones,  as  there  are  others,  such  as  the  white 
topaz,  which  bear  a  quite  close  resemblance  to  dia- 
monds  and   might  easily  deceive  an   ordinary  un- 
skilled person.     There  are  other  frauds  in  diamonds, 
besides  the  actual  substitution  of  paste,  or  inferior 
stones,  for  which  a  buyer  should  be  on  his  guard, 
one  being  the  use  of  a  perfectly  good  stone,  mounted 
on  to  a  base  of  glass  or  crystal,  so  that  it  appears 
to  be   a   large  one.     These   are   called  "doublets," 


304        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

and  they  ought  legally  to  be  so  marked  by  the 
seller,  but  in  buying  second-hand  jewellery  it  would 
be  quite  possible  for  the  vendor  to  be  ignorant  of 
the  fact  that  they  were  frauds.  It  is  not  generally 
known  that  though  diamonds  are  the  hardest  of 
all  stones  they  are  nevertheless  quite  liable  to  chip 
simply  by  being  carelessly  dropped. 

There  is  a  story  told  of  a  miner  who  found  a  large 
and  beautiful  stone.  As  he  imagined  that  it  was 
impossible  to  break  a  real  diamond,  in  order  to  test 
it  he  hammered  it  on  a  rock.  This  split  it  into 
several  pieces,  and  he  concluded  it  was  valueless. 
He  slipped  the  fragments  into  his  pocket  and 
thought  no  more  about  it,  till  he  mentioned  his 
disappointment  to  a  better-informed  friend,  showing 
him  the  pieces.  On  hearing  that  he  had  destroyed 
a  stone  worth  three  or  four  thousand  pounds,  his 
mind  became  unhinged,  and  he  shot  first  of  all  the 
friend  and  then  himself! 

Diamonds  which  are  set  solid  in  silver  should 
never  be  washed  in  water,  as  if  a  trace  of  damp 
gets  behind  them  the  metal  is  discoloured  and 
gives  a  yellowish  tint  to  the  stones.  This  of  course 
can  be  put  right  by  having  them  taken  out  and 
the  setting  cleaned,  but  it  is  a  risky  proceeding,  and 
there  is  always  a  good  chance  of  damaging  the 
whole  piece.  As  an  experienced  jeweller  once  re- 
marked to  me  on  this  point,  "These  old  stones 
grow  into  their  settings."  Much  beautiful  old 
diamond  jewellery  has  been  spoilt,  the  craze  for 
clear-set  stones  having  led  people  to  have  their 
family  jewels    reset   and   often   recut.      However,  I 


PRECIOUS  STONES  305 

suppose  those  who  liked  the  kind  of  thing  which 
they  got  in  exchange  for  the  beautiful  examples 
of  old  craftsmanship  did  not  deserve  anything 
better,  as  they  had  proved  themselves  unable  to 
appreciate  it. 

Babies  are  the  next  hardest  stone  to  diamonds,  and 
when  of  fair  size  and  good  colour  are  the  most 
expensive  of  gems.  The  mines  of  Burmah  are 
those  from  which  the  best  specimens  come  ;  the 
stones  from  Siam  are  too  dark  and  have  not  the 
right  kind  of  colour.  The  most  admired  of  all 
are  those  of  "  Pigeon's-blood  "  colour.  The  Balas 
ruby  is  in  reality  a  red  spinel.  Star  rubies  are  real 
rubies  which  are  a  little  cloudy.  The  star  is  caused 
partly  by  the  structure  of  the  gem  and  partly  by 
the  cutting,  which  is  en  cabochon.  They  are  pretty 
and  somewhat  rare,  but  not  so  valuable  as  a  perfect 
stone  of  true  colour  and  transparency.  The  ruby 
belongs  to  the  corundum  tribe,  to  which  the  sapphire 
and  the  exceedingly  rare  stone  known  as  the  Oriental 
emerald  also  belong. 

The  Sappliire  is  a  beautiful  stone  of  a  rich  blue 
colour.  Unfortunately,  it  does  not  show  up  very 
well  at  night.  It  is  commoner  than  the  ruby;  and 
larger  specimens  are  found  more  frequently.  This 
stone  was  supposed  in  the  Middle  Ages  to  be  a 
great  help  to  the  wearer  in  leading  a  good  life,  and 
was,  therefore,  often  set  in  rings  for  the  use  of  priests 
and  bishops  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries. 
The  most  valued  are  of  a  corn-flower  tint,  the  darker 
ones  losing  so  much  of  their  beauty  by  artificial  light. 
The  white  sapphire  is  beautiful,  and  has  a  soft,  rich 


306        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

lustre.     Star  sapphires  are  similar  to  star  rubies,  only 
the  colour  is  blue. 

The  Emerald  is  a  green  beryl.  It  has  a  beautiful, 
rich,  velvety  colour  in  the  best  specimens,  which  are 
very  valuable.  It  varies  in  price  immensely,  accord- 
ing to  its  freedom  from  flaws  and  the  richness  of 
its  colour.  Very  few  emeralds  are  absolutely  perfect, 
so  that  a  slight  flaw  is  not  so  important  as  in  the 
case  of  other  stones. 

Many  of  the  larger  stones  used  in  Renaissance 
and  Oriental  jewels  are  very  far  from  perfect  To 
me  the  flaws  add  to  the  interest  of  the  stones,  by 
breaking  up  the  colour  and  varying  it.  The  Oriental 
emerald  is  a  green  corundum,  and  is  very  precious 
and  scarce.  The  green  garnet,  the  chrysolite,  and 
the  dioptase  may  be  mistaken  for  emeralds. 

Amber  though  used  in  the  same  way  as  a  stone 
in  old  work,  but  is  not  really  a  stone  at  all.  It  is, 
in  fact,  a  fossil  resin  of  the  conifers  of  the  Tertiary 
period.  It  is  often  pierced  for  use  as  beads,  and  is 
found  in  both  cloudy  and  clear  pieces. 

Aauamarine,  a  sea-water  blue  stone,  belonging  to 
the  same  class  as  the  emerald. 

The  BeryL — The  stone  known  as  the  beryl  is  of  small 
value;  it  is  greenish,  bluish,  or  yellow  in  colour.  Rose- 
coloured  stones  are  also  met  with. 

The  Chrysoberyl  is  a  most  curious  stone,  one  variety 
of  which,  called  Alexandrite,  appears  green  by  day 
and  bright  red  by  artificial  light. 

The  Garnet,  a  beautiful  stone  of  a  lovely  red  colour, 
which  when  cut  en  cabochon  is  called  a  carbuncle. 
It  is  also  found  table  cut  in  much  old  jewellery  and 


PRECIOUS  STONES  307 

slab  cut  in  Barbarian  jewels.  The  Babrowska,  or 
green  garnet,  is  a  beautiful  stone,  but  only  used  in 
modern  jewellery.  It  is  very  like  the  emerald,  but  is 
not  hard  enough  to  stand  much  wear. 

Lapis  Lazuli  is  a  rich  blue  stone,  which  sometimes 
shows  spangles  or  specks  of  iron  pyrites.  It  is  an 
inexpensive  stone,  but  in  some  settings  has  a  very 
rich  appearance. 

Malachite,  a  rich  coloured  stone  (opaque),  of  rather 
a  streaky  green.  It  is  used  in  Russian  work  and 
nineteenth-century  jewellery  in  flat  slabs,  or  cut  en 
cabochon. 

Opal. — This  beautiful  stone,  which  is  neither  opaque 
nor  really  transparent,  owes  its  milky  appearance  to 
myriads  of  tiny  cracks.  The  best  specimens  are  a 
happy  medium  between  the  almost  clear  and  very 
nearly  opaque  ones ;  they  show  gleams  of  various 
colours,  and  are  full  of  fire  and  life.  Of  varieties 
there  are  the  Mexican  fire  opal,  a  reddish  kind,  and 
the  harlequin,  which  takes  its  name  from  the  patches 
of  colour  which  show  all  over,  not  only  in  the  centre. 
Opal  matrix  shows  patches  of  the  stone  on  a  dark 
background.  Cimeos  have  been  cut  in  the  precious 
stone  showing  up  against  the  matrix. 

Peridot,  a  very  beautiful  stone  of  a  yellowish  green 
colour,  not  much  used  in  old  jewellery. 

Quartz,  a  semi-precious  stone,  of  which  there  are 
many  varieties,  amongst  which  are — 

Agate. — Coloured  quartz  in  streaks  or  layers. 

Amethyst. — Purple  or  violet. 

Aventurine. — Brown  with  glittering  spangles. 

Bloodstone. — Greenish  with  red  spots. 


308        CHATS   ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

Cairngorm. — Yellow  or  brown  (the  Scotch  topaz). 

Cafs  Eye. — A  curious  stone  showing  threads  of 
light. 

Chrysophase. — Bluish  green. 

Jasper. — Bluish  green,  yellow,  or  red. 

Onyx. — Bands  of  milky  white,  and  various 
colours. 

Rock  Crystal. — Clear  and  colourless. 

Sard. — Very  clear  in  shades  of  red. 

Sardonyx. — Layers  of  onyx  and  sard. 

These  stones  are  common  and  cheap,  but  have 
been  used  for  the  most  exquisite  cameo  work,  which 
lends  a  halo  to  them. 

Spinel. — A  hard  stone  found  in  various  colours  and 
varieties. 

Rubielle  spinels  are  orange  and  flame-coloured. 
Alamandine  are  purplish  coloured.  Red  ones  are 
called  either  spinel  rubies  or  balas  rubies.  There  are 
also  indigo  blue,  black,  and  green  spinels. 

Topaz. — The  Oriental  topaz  is  a  yellow  sapphire, 
while  the  ordinary  Scotch  topaz  is  a  yellow  quartz. 
The  real  topaz  is  distinguished  as  the  Brazilian  topaz. 
When  heated  to  a  suitable  degree  it  turns  a  lovely 
pink.  This  stone  should  not  be  exposed  constantly 
to  the  light,  as  it  fades. 

Tourmaline,  an  interesting  stone  of  varying  colours, 
not  used  in  old  jewellery. 

Turquoise,  or  Turkis,  so  called  because  it  came  to 
England  via  Turkey,  but  in  reality  the  best  ones 
came  from  Persia.  In  colour  it  is  blue  with  a  shade 
of  green  in  it,  which  increases  with  age.  In  Renais- 
sance times  these  stones  were  often  cut  as  cameos. 


PRECIOUS  STONES  309 

They  are  also  found  with  inscriptions  cut  on  them 
in  Oriental  letters.  Turquoise  matrix  shows  dark 
veins  and  streaks. 

Pearls. — Of  course,  pearls  are  not  really  stones  at 
all,  but  we  are  so  used  to  seeing  them  mounted  in 
jewellery  with  precious  stones,  that  we  naturally 
include  them  in  the  same  category. 

They  are  of  animal  origin,  being  found  in  shellfish 
of  various  kinds. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  pearl  oysters.  They  are  not 
like  ordinary  oysters,  but  similar  to  large  mussels. 
The  one  from  which  the  best  pearls  come  is  the 
Meleagrina  rnargaritifera^  and  the  Ceylon  fisheries 
are  the  best  known.  Pearls  are  also  found  in  river 
mud  in  Scotland  and  in  North  Wales. 

I  have  myself  found  them  in  mussels  from  the 
River  Conway.  They  were  small  and  not  very  lustrous 
but  valuable  specimens  have  been  discovered.  There 
is  a  little  brooch  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum 
which  has  a  border  of  fine  Welsh  pearls. 

The  points  of  a  pearl  which  determine  its  value 
are  its  shape,  size,  and  colour.  The  best  are  per- 
fectly round,  like  a  ball ;  then  comes  the  button-shape 
(round) ;  then  perfect  pear-shaped  or  drop-shaped  ; 
and  lastly  various  irregular  forms.  Perfectly  round 
large  pearls  over  twenty-five  grains  are  very  rare. 
The  colour  should  be  pure  white  with  just  the 
faintest  translucency.  A  chalky  look  diminishes 
the  value  at  once.  The  skin  or  surface  should  be 
absolutely  smooth  and  flawless.  Pearls  being  com- 
posed of  numerous  layers  deposited  by  the  mollusc, 
have  a  peculiar  lustre  which  is  known  as  the  "orient," 


310        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

and  this  is  one  of  the  principal  points  which  con- 
stitutes their  beauty.  This  sheen  is  generally  con- 
fined to  the  top  layer,  but  sometimes  a  chalky  pearl 
has  the  top  layer  removed,  and  a  better  orient  is 
found  underneath  ;  but  it  is  a  risky  thing  to  try,  as 
it  very  nearly  always  means  going  from  bad  to  worse. 
Pearls  are  weighed  by  the  grain,  not  the  carat,  and 


Pearls. 

earl. 

3  Pear.  6  Baroque. 

7  Blister. 


1  Virgin  Pearl.        4  Half. 

2  Bead.  5  Button 


the  price  increases  enormously  with  the  size,  other 
qualities  being  equal. 

A  pearl  that  is  flat  at  the  bottom  is  called  a 
"button,"  and  the  very  irregular  ones  are  known  as 
"  barroque "  pearls.  Pearl  blisters  are  found  on  the 
shell,  where  there  has  been  a  menace  of  danger 
from  without,  such  as  a  boring  insect  trying  to 
work  through.  What  is  called  "  Coc  de  Perl "  is 
not  "  pearl  shell "  as  might  be  imagined,  but  a 
hollow   pearl   like    a   bubble.      As   is   well   known, 


PRECIOUS  STONES  311 

pearls  are  formed  by  the  deposit  of  layers  of  nacre 
over  some  substance  which  irritates  the  oyster.  The 
Chinese  sometimes  very  ingeniously  introduce  small 
images  of  Buddha  into  the  mollusc,  and  these  being 
coated  with  mother-of-pearl  form  amulets.  There  is 
a  shell  showing  these  in  the  British  Museum.  I 
have  seen  a  small  crucifix  coated  by  the  same 
method.  There  are,  in  addition  to  white  pearls, 
bluish,  black,  grey,  pink,  and  yellowish  ones.  These 
last  are  not  admired  by  English  people,  but  the 
Chinese  prefer  them;  they  harmonise  better,  no 
doubt,  with  the  Mongolian  complexion.  Pink  pearls 
are  very  pretty.  Black  are  favourites  for  tie-pins 
at  the  present  day,  and  were  used  in  Renaissance 
jewellery,  especially  as  drops  below  pendants. 

A  few  notes  on  Imitation  Stones  may  be  of  interest, 
as  they  will  set  purchasers  on  their  guard,  but  I 
should  like  to  advise  intending  buyers  not  to 
imagine  that  they  are  likely  to  get  many  bargains 
in  stones.  They  are  much  more  likely  to  be  taken 
in  if  they  buy  them  on  their  own  responsibility, 
unless  they  have  sufficient  experience  to  make  them 
more  or  less  experts.  This  is  especially  so  in  the 
case  of  travellers  in  the  East,  who  are  often  offered, 
by  wily  Orientals,  "  stones "  which  they  imagine 
must  be  cheap  because  they  are  obtaiqable  locally. 
These  often  turn  out  to  be  simply  coloured  glass. 
In  Ceylon  this  fraud  is  often  practised.  Sometimes 
a  native  has  been  known  to  work  up  quite  an  elabo- 
rate plot  to  make  things  seem  probable.  The  story 
is  told  of  a  young  tea-planter  going  up-country  for 
the  first  time,  who  went  to  the   rescue  of  an  old 


312        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

man  who  was  being  badly  treated  by  a  stalwart 
young  fellow.  Having  sent  the  aggressor  away, 
he  released  the  poor  trembling  victim,  who  humbly, 
thanked  him,  calling  down  all  sorts  of  blessings  on 
his  head,  and  brought  out  a  pearl  from  his  bosom, 
of  which  he  said  the  other  man  had  been  trying 
to  rob  him.  He  was,  so  he  said,  afraid  to  keep  it, 
and  though  it  was  worth  five  hundred  pounds  he 
would  rather  take  ten  from  the  "  Protector  of  the 
Poor"  than  go  in  fear  of  his  life.  The  young 
Englishman  did  not  want  the  pearl,  but  as  he 
thought  he  could  sell  it  at  a  profit,  he  gave  the 
man  what  he  asked,  thinking  that  it  was  a  great 
bargain.  Of  course  it  proved  to  be  merely  an  imita- 
tion, the  whole  scene  being  got  up  for  his  benefit. 
There  are,  no  doubt,  opportunities  to  acquire  gems 
more  cheaply  on  the  spot,  by  those  who  "  know  the 
ropes,"  but  the  average  traveller  or  new-comer,  will 
find  that  he  can  buy  stones  much  cheaper  in  Hatton 
Garden,  with  the  guarantee  of  genuineness  thrown  in. 
Of  artificial  stones,  practically  all  are  soft  and  can 
be  scratched  with  a  file  (except  some  of  the  scientific 
gems);  they  are  in  fact  glass,  variously  coloured. 
Old  glass  pastes  that  have  seen  much  wear  are  often 
scratched  and  dimmed,  and  if  they  do  not  show 
any  trace  of  this  even  at  the  angles,  an  examination 
with  a  magnifier  often  shows  little  bubbles  and 
lines,  which  show  they  have  been  melted.  These 
are  quite  different  from  the  flaws  in  real  stones, 
which  show  the  crystalline  character  of  the  gem. 
One  way  of  distinguishing  them  is  to  hold  them  to 
the  lips  (they  must  not  be  warmed  by  having  been 


PRECIOUS  STONES  313 

worn) :  the  real  stones  feel  cold,  while  the  paste  feels 
soft  and  warm.  Doublets  have  been  spoken  of  before 
in  connection  with  diamonds  ;  they  are  more  deceit- 
ful than  paste  and  harder  to  detect,  especially  with 
coloured  stones.  If  a  pale  stone  has  a  rich  coloured 
glass  base  it  not  only  makes  a  large  stone  out  of 
a  small  one,  but  improves  the  colour  immensely. 
This,  however,  may  be  easily  detected  by  applying  a 
test  for  hardness  underneath.  An  even  more  sophis- 
ticated form  has  been  invented,  which  has  a  thin 
layer  of  stone  cemented  to  the  base  as  well.  These 
Triplets  are  very  liable  to  betray  the  unwary. 
Suspected  stones  should  be  removed  from  their 
settings  and  soaked  in  hot  water  or  chloroform, 
which  dissolves  the  cement  and  the  whole  thing 
falls  to  pieces. 

Imitation  Pearls  are  made  in  various  ways,  the  most 
usual  being  a  thin  glass  shell  coated  inside  with  a 
preparation  of  fish-scales.  They  are  also  made  of 
white  stone  covered  with  wax.  Black  pearls  and 
hematite  have  a  close  resemblance  to  each  other, 
but  the  weight  of  the  metal  betrays  it  at  once. 
The  imitation  of  pink  pearls  by  pink  coral  is  easily 
found  out,  because  though  coral  takes  a  high  polish 
it  lacks  the  sheen  and  orient  of  a  pearl.  There  are 
many  superstitions  about  stones  which  had  great 
weight  in  the  Middle  Ages  and  in  Renaissance  times. 
One  of  them  assigns  a  special  stone  to  each  month, 
and  set  of  rings  and  other  ornaments  were  made, 
so  that  the  talisman  could  always  be  worn.  The 
list  goes  back  to  very  ancient  times  before  the 
diamond  was  at  all  a  usual  stone. 

16 


314        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 


Precious  Stones. 

Alternatives. 

January. 

Hyacinth. 

February. 

Amethyst. 

March. 

Jasper. 

April. 

Sapphire. 

May. 

Agate. 

Emerald. 

June. 

Emerald. 

Chalcedony,  Onyx,  Agate. 

July. 

Onyx. 

Cornelian. 

August. 

Cornelian. 

Sardonyx. 

September. 

Chrysolite. 

October. 

Beryl. 

Aquamarine. 

November. 

Topaz. 

December. 

Ruby. 

Chrysophase,  Turquoise. 

xn 

CAMEOS 

AND 

INTAGUOS 


CAMEOS 

Gold  and  enamel  ring.  The  cameo  head  of  a  negro  has  a  diamond 
collar  round  the  neck.  It  is  German  work  of  the  late  six- 
teenth century. 

Cameo  head  of  the  young  Hercules  in  an  enamelled  gold  mount. 
The  stone  below  is  a  later  addition.  The  back  is  enamelled 
with  a  vase  of  flowers. 

Head  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  set  in  jacinth  and  mounted  in  gold- 
work  of  a  light  character. 

Head  of  Hercules  in  a  gold  and  enamelled  setting.  On  the  other 
side  is  a  head  of  Omphale.     Italian.     Sixteenth  century. 


816 


sr, 


CHAPTER  XII 

CAMEOS  AND  INTAGLIOS 

(Including  Glass  Gems  and  Wedgwood  Medallions,    and 
other  works  of  similar  character) 

In  nearly  every  miscellaneous  collection  of  jewel- 
lery there  are  to  be  found  a  few  cameos  or 
intaglios;  the  former  very  likely  set  as  brooches, 
ear-rings,  or  buckles,  and  the  latter  more  probably 
set  in  seals  and  rings.  These  little  works  of  art 
vary  considerably  in  character  and  value,  as  there 
is  a  possibility  of  their  being  antique  gems  worth, 
perhaps,  a  very  large  sum,  or  at  the  other  end  of  the 
scale  they  may  be  badly  cut  shells  of  recent 
date.  Between  these  extremes  there  lies  an  inter- 
mediate region,  in  which  are  to  be  found  specimens 
which  may  justly  be  prized  as  examples  of  a  very 
charming  art,  though  not  of  any  very  gr,eat  pecuniary 
value. 

Intaglios  of  importance  are,  perhaps,  more  likely 
to  be  in  private  hands  than  very  valuable  cameos, 
from  the  fact  that  many  men  and  women  of  culture 
made  use  of  them  for  sealing  documents  of  a  private 
character,  reserving  their  heraldic  seals  for  business 

319 


320        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

purposes.  When  the  custom  of  sealing  letters  with 
wax  went  out  of  fashion,  the  antiques  were  some- 
times laid  aside  among  broken  and  worthless 
trinkets. 

It  is  difficult  to  give  an  exact  definition  of  what 
is  meant  by  a  "  Cameo"  in  so  many  words.  If  it  is 
defined  as  "A  precious  stone  sculptured  in  relief," 
we  find  that  the  majority  of  cameos  would  be  left 
out,  as  a  great  many  of  the  celebrated  Graeco- 
Roman  stones  were  cut  in  onyx,  which  is  not 
considered  one  of  the  precious  stones  ;  while  numerous 
fine  examples,  dating  from  the  fifteenth  century  and 
later,  were  cut  in  shell. 

There  are  many  small  carvings  in  wood  and 
honestone  as  finely  executed  and  as  small 
as  those  which  we  are  accustomed  to  call 
cameos,  yet  we  instinctively  feel  that  they  must 
be  excluded,  so  that  a  better  definition  will  be 
"  A  small  carving  in  relief  on  some  hard  material 
of  intrinsic  beauty  or  value."  This  would  include  all 
the  precious  and  semi-precious  stones,  coral,  and 
shell,  and  would  exclude  bone,  slate,  honestone, 
boxwood,  &c.  But  it  would  also  cover  ivory  and 
precious  metals,  and  it  is  a  moot  point  whether  they 
also  should  not  be  omitted  from  the  catalogue  of 
materials  to  be  employed.  Still,  if  they  are  carved  in 
the  style  of  cameo  work,  and  (if  of  metal)  are  not 
stamped  or  cast,  but  sculptured  with  cutting  tools,  it 
seems  that  they  should  be  admitted.  I  was  once 
speaking  to  a  collector  on  this  subject,  and  he 
attempted  several  definitions,  none  of  which  quite 
pleased   him,   so  he   finally  wound   up   by  saying 


CAMEOS  AND  INTAGLIOS  321 

"  Well,  after  all,  a  cameo  is  a  cameo,  and  one  knows 
one  when  one  sees  it" 

And  when  one  has  seen  a  collection  or  two,  no 
exact  form  of  words  will  be  needed. 

The  following  list  of  the  most  usual  materials  may 
be  of  use  : — 

Agates,  onyx,  sardonyx,  amethyst,  emerald,  car- 
buncle, jacinth,  chrysolite,  lapis,  turquoise,  chryso- 
prase,  jasper,  hematite,  malachite,  amber,  mother- 
of-pearl,  coral,  and  shells  {strombus  gigas,  cassis  rufa, 
cassis  tuberosa,  &c.). 

It  is  generally  considered  that  the  scarabs  of  the 
Egyptians  are  the  earliest  ancestors  of  the  cameo, 
and  that  from  them  the  cult  spread  over  the  old 
world  wherever  Egyptian  influence  was  felt,  either 
directly  or  through  the  nations  who  traded  with 
them.  They  are  found  in  this  form  in  Mycenae, 
Greece,  Etruria,  and  Assyria.  The  name  "Scarab" 
is  given  them  from  the  likeness  of  the  earliest  ones  to 
the  sacred  beetle ;  others  which  retained  the  shape, 
but  not  such  a  close  resemblance,  are  called  "  scara- 
boid."  Some  of  the  Greek  and  Etruscan  stones  are 
cut  into  animal  forms  on  the  back. 

The  cameo  reached  its  position  as  a  work* of  art 
(apart  from  the  more  or  less  sacred  value  as  an 
emblem  or  a  seal)  somewhere  in  the  second  century 
B.C.  About  this  date  the  Greeks  gave  increased 
attention  to  this  form  of  engraved  gem,  and  their 
skill  led  to  still  greater  value  being  attached  to  these 
small  treasures,  which  combine  in  themselves  prac- 
tical indestructibility  with  natural  beauty  and  ex- 
quisite    handiwork.      For     still     another     century 


322        CHATS   ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

craftsmen  do  not  seem  to  have  fully  realised  the 
great  advantage  that  resulted  from  utilising  the 
different  coloured  layers  of  the  onyx,  in  order  to  add 
the  charm  of  varying  colour  to  beauty  of  form  and 
material.  Once  this  was  grasped,  the  popularity  of 
these  gems  was  much  enhanced.  Many  of  these 
works  were  too  large  for  jewellery,  however,  and  it 
was  principally  the  intaglios  and  smaller  cameos 
which  could  be  used  in  rings  and  pendants  which 
were  mounted  for  personal  ornament. 

The  onyx  consists  of  layers  of  different  colours. 
The  stripes  are  not  always  quite  horizontal,  as  they 
follow  the  shape  of  the  hollow  of  the  stone  in  which 
they  were  deposited,  particle  by  particle,  by  the 
agency  of  dripping  water,  and  are  variously  tinted 
by  metallic  oxides.  The  carver  took  advantage  of 
the  bands,  and,  by  arranging  his  design  to  suit  them, 
could  show  white  flesh  on  a  dark  ground,  with 
brown  or  yellowish  hair,  another  band,  perhaps 
grey,  being  utilised  for  drapery ;  while  accidental 
changes  of  tone  or  stains  were  skilfully  worked  up 
into  added  beauties.  Then  not  only  are  the  solid 
colours  taken  advantage  of,  but  by  thinning  down  the 
opaque  layers  to  a  suitable  degree,  the  dark  colour 
shines  through  the  resulting  semi-transparency  with 
a  wonderfully  luminous  effect. 

It  is  said  that  the  Romans  first  became  enthusiastic 
collectors  of  cameos  towards  the  end  of  the  first 
century  B.C.,  when,  having  conquered  Mithridates, 
Pompey  brought  his  treasures  back  to  Rome  and 
displayed  them  to  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the 
populace.     Be    this    as    it   may,  the    wearing    and 


CAMEOS  AND  INTAGLIOS  323 

possession  of  these  gems  soon  became  a  regular 
passion,  and  numerous  Greek  workmen  were  em- 
ployed in  making  them,  as  no  other  nation  could 
supply  artists  so  skilled.  Many  of  them  settled  in 
Rome,  and  for  about  a  century  the  art  was  at  its 
highest  level,  both  for  perfection  of  workmanship  and 
beauty  of  design.  During  the  succeeding  three  cen- 
turies the  standard  fluctuated.  No  doubt  one  excel- 
lent artist  would  influence  all  the  work  of  his  fellows, 
and  while  he  lived  his  contemporaries  would  reach  a 
higher  general  level.  When  he  died,  the  quality 
would  sink  for  a  while  till  another  genius  arose  ;  but 
on  the  whole,  the  art  of  this  period  is  beautiful,  being 
noticeably  Hellenistic  in  spirit.  Following  this  came 
a  period  of  decay,  till,  after  the  change  of  the  seat  of 
government  to  Constantinople,  an  entirely  different 
style  was  developed. 

It  was  not  the  display  of  the  beauty,  majesty,  or 
grace  of  humanity,  as  shown  in  idealised  treatment  oi 
nature  and  in  portraits,  that  the  Byzantine  artist 
aimed  at,  but  the  leading  motif  was  symbolism,  and 
on  the  whole  the  cameos  of  this  period  are  rather 
interesting  than  beautiful,  though  some  of  them  are 
well  cut  and  have  considerable  charm  of  arrangejnent. 
During  the  centuries  that  follow,  the  last  traces  of 
the  Greek  spirit  died  away,  both  in  workmanship 
and  design  :  the  art  was  kept  alive,  but  there  are  few 
specimens  that  will  bear  comparison  with  earlier  work. 
It  is  coarse  and  crude  until  the  Carlovingian  period, 
when  there  was  a  renewal  of  interest,  and  with  this 
impulse  technique  improved.  The  way  was  thus,  as 
it   were,   paved   for    the    extraordinary    passion   for 


324        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

classical  antiquities  and  works  in  the  antique  style 
which  seized  on  all  classes  during  the  Renaissance. 
During  the  sixteenth  century  much  work  was  done 
which  was  simply  a  copy  of  the  gems  of  the  classical 
period;  and  so  close  are  these  imitations,  that  in 
many  museums  specimens  are  said  to  be  found 
labelled  as  genuine  antiques  which  should  in  reality 
be  ascribed  to  this  date. 

When,  however,  the  Renaissance  workers  used 
their  own  designs,  the  gems  show  a  delightful  fresh- 
ness, almost  amounting  to  naivetd,  which  lends  a  very 
special  charm  to  work  of  which  the  treatment  shows 
originality,  even  if  the  basis  of  the  design  is  a 
classical  subject.  Many  of  the  great  persons  of  the 
day.  Popes  and  Princes,  made  collections  of  cameos 
and  vied  with  each  other  for  the  possession  of  antique 
gems.  Readers  of  "  Romola  "  will  remember  the  in- 
cident of  the  stolen  gems  on  which  so  much  of  the 
story  turns.  These  stones  were  eagerly  sought  for ; 
and  Cellini,  in  his  Autobiography,  tells  us  of  the 
profits  which  were  made  by  those  who  bought  them 
from  the  vine-dressers  who  dug  them  up  in  the 
course  of  their  labours.  He  also  describes  a  stone 
which  he  possessed  (to  give  his  own  words)  as  "  A 
cameo  upon  which  was  engraved  a  Hercules  binding 
a  triple-headed  Cerberus.  This  was  a  piece  of  such 
extraordinary  beauty,  that  our  great  Michael  Angelo 
declared  he  had  never  beheld  anything  that  sur- 
passed it." 

He  also  gives  his  experience  of  his  own  metal 
work  being  passed  off  as  a  genuine  antique,  which 
bears  out   what  we  know  from  other  sources,  that 


CAMEOS  AND  INTAGLIOS  325 

these  old  collectors  were  so  keen  on  having  the  credit 
of  possessing  fine,  and  above  all  signed,  specimens, 
that  they  were  not  above  having  signatures  added  to 
ancient  gems,  and  even  commissioned  contemporary 
artists  to  produce  work  in  the  ancient  style  and  sign 
them  with  the  names  of  Greek  gem-cutters  when  they 
could  not  otherwise  obtain  a  specimen  by  a  desired 
artist.  Genuine  signed  pieces  of  the  classic  period 
have  always  been  rare,  and  it  was  never  so  general  to 
sign  cameos  as  it  was  intaglios;  and  unless  the 
signature  is  in  relief  it  cannot  be  relied  on  as 
authentic  ;  indeed,  the  contrary  is  far  more  likely. 

The  following  points  as  to  signatures  should  be 
carefully  noted.  On  examination  under  a  magni- 
fying-glass  the  signatures  on  the  stones  of  the  best 
periods  will  be  found  perfectly  regular. 

If  letters  in  Roman  character  are  mixed  with 
Greek  ones,  that  alone  is  enough  to  announce  a 
forgery.  During  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the 
Greek  language  was  only  just  beginning  to  make 
its  way  again,  engravers  often  made  the  mistake  of 
inserting  or  omitting  a  letter.  The  Greek  gem- 
cutters  generally  put  their  name  in  the  genitive, 
so  all  signatures  in  the  nominative  are  at  least  to 
be  suspected.  When  there  are  two  names,  however, 
the  first  is  often  in  the  nominative.  Roman  cutters 
signed  their  names  in  Greek  characters. 

I  am  indebted  for  these  valuable  notes  to  the 
"Livres  des   Collectioneurs "   by  M.    Mage-Sencier. 

The  cutting  of  gems,  as  practised  in  ancient  times, 
must  have  been  a  laborious  proceeding,  as  they  were 
either  cut  out  with  a  diamond-point  or  with  a  drill 


326        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

worked  by  hand,  or,  perhaps,  with  a  string  and  bow, 
such  drills  having  been  known  from  very  early  times. 
(See  Dr.  Flinders  Petrie's  "Ten  Years'  Digging  in 
Egypt.") 

The  wheels,  which  were  introduced  in  Renaissance 
times,  had  a  considerable  influence  in  the  placing 
of  the  design,  these  later  cameos,  as  a  rule,  showing 
more  flat  margin.  It  is  obvious  that,  when  every 
particle  had  to  be  laboriously  ground  away,  the 
object  of  the  cutter  would  be  to  remove  as  little 
as  possible,  consistent  with  the  proportions  of  his 
work.  When  mechanical  means  came  to  the  aid 
of  handwork  it  was  comparatively  easy  to  slice 
away  a  good  sized  piece. 

Our  Queen  Elizabeth  was  a  great  patron  of  por- 
traitists of  all  kinds,  and  her  counterfeit  present- 
ment is  well  represented  by  the  cameo-cutter  in 
several  stones.  Coldor6,  who  was  cameo-cutter  to 
Henry  IV.  of  France,  did  several  of  her,  probably 
including  the  Barbor  jewel.  This  jewel  had  an 
interesting  history.  It  was  made  in  commemoration 
of  William  Barbor's  escape  from  martyrdom.  He 
was  at  Smithfield,  waiting  to  be  burnt  by  order  of 
her  "  Most  Catholic  Majesty"  Queen  Mary,  when  the 
news  came  of  the  Queen's  death,  so  his  life  was 
providentially  spared. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  art  of  cutting 
cameos  declined.  There  was  not  much  demand  for 
them  as  personal  ornaments,  as  other  fashions, 
notably  that  for  faceted  gems,  had  arisen,  but 
antiques  were  still  highly  valued  as  works  of  art. 
Charles  I.  had  a  splendid  collection  of  them,  which 


CAMEOS  AND  INTAGLIOS  327 

was  dispersed  at  his  death.  A  few  of  them  have 
been  regained,  and  are  at  present  in  the  King's 
private  collection  at  Windsor.  No  doubt,  if  some 
great  artist  in  the  material  had  arisen  he  might 
have  infused  fresh  spirit  into  the  art ;  but  it  only 
lingered  on  in  a  half-hearted  way  till  the  revival 
of  interest  in  classic  art  in  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  when  as  in  Renaissance  times  in 
response  to  the  demand  for  cameos  which  the  supply 
of  old  stones  was  insufficient  to  meet,  imitations  were 
made  to  such  perfection  that  only  the  greatest 
experts  can  tell  the  difference  ;  indeed,  it  is  question- 
able whether,  without  historical  evidence,  the  origin 
of  some  of  these  gems  could  ever  be  decisively 
settled.  It  does  seem  an  anomalous  thing  that  an 
artist  should  obtain  only  five  pounds  for  a  work 
which  could  be  passed  off  and  sold  to  an  expert 
collector  of  antiques  for  a  hundred  times  the  sum. 
No  wonder  if  some  were  led  into  fraudulent  prac- 
tices, though  generally  it  was  dealers,  not  the  actual 
workers,  who  were  at  fault. 

The  French  and  English  Courts  set  the  fashion, 
and  numerous  excellent  artists  came  to  the  front ; 
among  them  were  Natter,  Sirletti,  and  Pistrucci.  The 
Pichlers  were  also  very  well  known,  and  always  signed 
their  name  in  Greek  letters. 

With  the  end  of  the  first  third  of  the  nineteenth 
century  cameo-cutting  as  one  of  the  fine  arts]  to  all 
intents  came  to  an  end,  though  in  Italy  exceedingly 
pretty  and  minute  work  is  still  done,  but  it  lacks 
inspiration.  The  twentieth  century  still  waits  for  its 
revival  of  the  art,  in  its  higher  forms. 


328        CHATS   ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

The  cameos  dealt  with  above  have  all  been  on 
stone,  and  to  form  anything  like  a  representative 
collection  would  be  an  impossibility,  except  for  the 
very  wealthy.  However,  no  doubt  there  are  many 
of  the  less  important  examples  still  in  private  hands, 
often  perhaps  belonging  to  people  who  do  not  recog- 
nise their  value ;  but  such  examples,  even  if  of  equal 
merit,  would  not  probably  fetch  the  same  price  as 
stones  whose  history  is  known  by  their  inclusion  in 
well-known  collections.  It  is  remarkable  that  the 
pedigree,  so  to  speak,  of  almost  all  of  the  well- 
known  antique  cameos  can  be  traced  back  through 
the  centuries.  They  have  always  been  valued  and 
passed  on  as  precious  treasures,  and  seldom  or  never 
have  been  buried  and  dug  up,  or  lost  and  rediscovered 
in  the  almost  miraculous  way  that  so  many  other 
valuables  have  been. 

Shell  Cameos. — Fortunately  for  those  who  love 
them,  the  art  of  cutting  cameos  was  also  carried 
out  in  less  expensive  materials  and  by  less  laborious 
means,  often  on  shells  which  showed  layers  of  two 
colours,  and  there  is  a  charm  and  mellowness  about 
the  tone  of  these  which  is  lacking  in  the  hard,  dead 
white  of  the  onyx.  Well-cut  specimens  are  real 
works  of  art  They  are  absolutely  individual,  as 
they  have  to  be  cut  touch  by  touch  (though  the 
material  is,  of  course,  softer)  as  gems  have  to  be. 
Thus  there  is  as  great  a  difference  between  a  well- 
cut  and  a  badly  cut  shell  cameo  as  between  a  picture 
or  miniature  painted  by  a  good  artist  and  one  done 
by  a  dauber.  The  charm  of  forming  a  collection  of 
them  lies  in  the  fact  that,  as  so   few  of  them  are 


CAMEOS  AND  INTAGLIOS  329 

signed,  there  is  no  fictitious  value  given  to  them  by 
a  well-known  name.  The  collector  must  form  his 
taste  by  the  study  of  really  good  cameos  (shells 
and  gems),  so  as  to  have  a  mental  criterion  with 
which  to  compare  them.  Armed  with  this  know- 
ledge, he  can  sally  forth  in  quest  of  treasures. 
Pawnbrokers'  shops  and  second-hand  wardrobe 
dealers  have  been  known  to  produce  very  fine 
specimens  from  among  their  oddments.  But  it  is 
no  use  giving  more  than  a  shilling  or  two  for 
specimens  that  are  scratched  or  worn,  as  they  are 
liable  to  be  if  they  have  been  knocked  about,  as 
shell  has  this  unfortunate  drawback,  that  it  chips 
and  scratches  very  easily.  Specimens  that  are  badly 
cut  originally  are  not  worth  having  at  a  gift,  any 
more  than  a  poor  painting ;  but  brooches  that  seem 
too  large  for  our  modern  taste  make  delightful  waist- 
buckles  or  cabinet  pieces,  or  look  well  mounted  on 
shields  in  the   same  way  miniatures   are   displayed. 

Shell  cameos  are  not  cut  in  the  same  way  as  stone 
ones,  the  lapidary's  drill  and  wheel  being  unnecessary 
in  the  softer  material,  but  the  tools  are  more  like 
those  used  for  carving  and  engraving  metal.  The 
small  circular  saw  and  scrapers  are  also  used,  and 
the  polishing  is  done  with  rotten-stone  or  similar  soft 
polishes,  instead  of  diamond  dust  or  emery. 

Intaglios  are  the  reverse  of  cameos — that  is  to  say, 
the  design  is  incised  into  the  stone  instead  of 
standing  out  above  it  They  were  originally  made 
for  seals,  and  in  early  days  acquired  as  such  an 
almost  sacred  significance. 

The  Romans  in  later  times  collected  them,  some- 


330        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

times  setting  them  in  rings  or  necklaces,  but  more 
often  keeping  them  in  cabinets  called  "dactyliotheca." 

The  size  of  the  intaglios  was  generally  small,  as 
they  were  primarily  intended  for  seals.  The  ancients 
were  careful  to  use  stones  which  as  far  as  possible 
were  suitable  to  the  subject.  Thus  we  often  find 
Pluto  on  a  dark  stone,  Bacchus  on  the  luscious 
purple  amethyst,  Amphytrite  on  an  aquamarine 
(an  allusion  to  her  having  risen  from  the  sea),  and 
poor  flayed  Marsyas  on  the  red  of  a  cornelian 
They  are  almost  invariably  oval  in  shape — a  re- 
minder of  their  descent  from  the  Egyptian  scarab. 
Antique  ones  very  frequently  have  irregularly  shaped 
backs.  In  ancient  times  all  the  work  was  done  by 
one  and  the  same  artist-craftsman,  from  the  roughing 
out  of  the  stone  to  the  polishing,  so  he  was  not  very 
likely  to  spend  more  time  and  work  on  the  back  than 
was  needful  just  to  polish  it.  The  bezels  of  antique 
rings  were  very  high,  so  flattening  was  unnecessary. 
With  division  of  labour  and  the  improved  tools  of 
the  Renaissance  period  came  the  custom  of  smoothing 
the  back.  It  is,  however,  not  an  invariable  rule  to 
judge  by,  as  antiques  may  originally  have  had  a  flat 
back,  or  they  may  have  been  tampered  with  later. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  forger  would  very  likely  imitate 
the  rough  back  as  he  did  everything  else. 

Of  course,  by  now  the  gems  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, though  often  originally  cut  as  frauds,  are  of 
very  considerable  value.  Travellers  in  Italy  are 
specially  warned  against  the  modern  copies  of 
ancient  engraved  gems,  sometimes  very  skilful,  at 
others  of  less  merit,  which  guides  and  curio  dealers 


CAMEOS  AND  INTAGLIOS  331 

may  attempt  to  foist  on  them,  saying  that  they 
have  found  them  themselves  and  have  to  sell 
secretly  for  fear  of  Government   interference. 

In  the  later  times,  during  the  second  revival  of 
interest  in  classical  art  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
numerous  very  fine  intaglios  were  cut  which  are 
hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  the  originals  and, 
in  fact,  have  been  often  mistaken  for  them.  Noted 
English  engravers  of  this  time  included  W.  Burch, 
R.A.,  and  W.  Brown. 

Substitates  for  Cameos  and  Intaglios. — The  cost  of 
separately  cutting,  engraving,  and  polishing  stones, 
and  even  soft  materials  such  as  shell,  pearl,  land 
coral,  must  always  be  quite  considerable,  because 
of  the  time  it  occupies  of  one  who,  even  for  inferior 
grades  and  inartistic  designs,  must  be  at  least  a 
skilled  workman.  So  from  the  earliest  times  there 
have  been  substitutes  in  the  same  style  that  were 
copies  in  cheaper  material  but  were  not  made  with 
any  fraudulent  intent  The  Ancient  Egyptian  scarabs 
in  glazed  pottery  of  different  shades,  which  are  found 
in  such  great  quantities,  the  moulded  glass  gems  of 
Rome,  the  pastes  of  the  Renaissance,  the  "  Tassie " 
gems  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  Wedgwood 
jasper  medallions  all  come  under  this  head,  and  form 
a  group  of  objects  which  are  worthy  to  rank  as 
works  of  art,  by  reason  of  their. charm  of  design  and 
colouring,  though  the  actual  material  is  of  little  value. 
We  must  distinguish  two  classes  of  Boman  glass 
gems — those  which  consist  of  glass  treated  entirely 
as  a  stone  and  cut  down  exactly  the  same  way, 
which   rank  with   those  of  onyx  and   other  stones, 

17 


332        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

and  the  other  class  in  which  the  glass  received  the 
impression  of  a  matrix  taken  from  a  carved  gem,  and 
thus  forms  a  replica  of  the  original.  This  distinction 
is  important,  because  it  will  easily  be  seen  that 
while  the  first  is  an  individual  work,  bearing  the 
touch  of  the  master's  hand,  the  latter  could  be,  and 
were,  multiplied  at  will.  They  are  found  in  both 
cameo  and  intaglio  form ;  the  glass  itself  is  often 
imperfect,  being  full  of  bubbles  and  striations,  which, 
however,  rather  add  to  the  effect.  The  surface  as  it 
came  from  the  mould  was  rather  rough,  and  time 
and  wear  has  often  increased  this,  and  also  caused 
an  iridescent  play  of  light.  It  is  noteworthy  that 
those  which  show  this  play  of  colour,  arising  from 
decay  of  the  surface,  are  more  valuable  than  those 
which  are  better  preserved.  Sometimes  the  moulded 
glass  was  finished  in  the  same  way  that  gems  were 
by  a  lapidary,  and  in  this  case  the  detail  is  wonder- 
fully fine.  These  belong  to  quite  a  superior  class  of 
work,  but  there  is  a  great  charm  about  the  simpler 
specimens,  though  they  are  not  so  valuable.  The 
cameo  pastes  in  two  colours  are  wonderfully  fine, 
and  necessitated  extreme  skill  in  the  workmen 
who  carried  them  out.  The  glass  was  tinted  to 
the  requisite  shade  by  metallic  oxides,  and  though 
not  perfect  in  quality  was  exceedingly  hard. 

Glass  pastes  continued  to  be  made  in  Byzantine 
times,  and  in  the  Tara  brooch,  made  about  the  year 
700,  rudely  modelled  heads  are  set,  and  the  art 
lingered  on  through  the  Middle  Ages.  But  at  the 
time  of  the  Renaissance  it  took  on  a  new  lease  of 
life,  and  following  the  fashion  of  contemporary  gem- 


CAMEOS  AND  INTAGLIOS  333 

cutters,  the  glass  workers  copied  the  ancient  models. 
They  often  worked  with  fraudulent  intent,  backing 
the  glass  with  stone,  so  that  the  purchasers  who 
thought  of  testing  the  back  should  be  misled  into 
thinking  the  whole  was  genuine.  Some  one  has  said 
that  in  Renaissance  times  every  one  was  an  artist ; 
one  is  sometimes  tempted  to  change  it  to  an  echo 
of  David's  lament  and  say,  "  All  men  are  forgers," 
so  many  and  so  skilful  are  the  fraudulent  antiques 
they  made  ;  however,  by  now  these  very  forgeries 
are  in  themselves  of  value  and  in  turn  imitated. 

When  we  come  to  the  eighteenth  century,  gems 
were  copied  in  many  materials,  of  which  perhaps  the 
most  beautiful   are  those  made  in   glass   by  Tassie. 

He  was  a  Scotsman  hailing  from  Pollockshaws. 
In  his  youth  he  was  a  stonemason,  but  his  talent 
was  discovered  and  he  received  some  training,  and 
later  came  to  London.  The  Society  for  the  En- 
couragement of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Commerce 
patronised  him,  and  gave  him  a  bounty,  in  1765,  for 
specimens  of  his  work.  He  made  splendid  imitations 
of  antique  cameos  and  intaglios,  copying  the  real 
things  as  a  means  of  spreading  the  knowledge  of 
works  of  art,  and  not  pretending  that  they  were  old 
paste  or  stones.  His  colours  were  very  brilliant,  and 
much  resembled  those  of  the  antiques,  but  the  red 
is  clearer  and  more  vivid.  They  were  very  cheap, 
and  the  prices  ranged  from  is.  6d.  only  for  intaglios 
suitable  for  seal  rings,  up  to  5s.  to  a  guinea  for  larger 
sizes,  and  from  half  to  two  guineas  for  cameos,  which 
were  more  difficult  to  make.  They  soon  became  the 
fashion,  as  classical  art  was  "  the  mode." 


334        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

The  Adam  brothers,  and  other  architects  and 
artists,  who  did  so  much  to  spread  the  knowledge 
of  things  antique  by  their  books  and  engravings,  no 
doubt  increased  the  sale  of  this  style  of  ornament. 
Tassie  soon  became  the  fashion,  and  obtained  an 
order  from  the  Empress  Katherine  of  Russia  for  a 
specimen  of  each  of  his  gems.  She  seems  to  have 
had  a  great  admiration  for  English  Art,  as  she  com- 
manded pictures  by  Reynolds,  and  the  well-known 
"  Frog "  service  from  Wedgwood  about  this  time. 

The  pastes  were  largely  purchased  and  some  were 
mounted  in  the  same  way  that  real  stones  were  used, 
to  satisfy  the  taste  for  the  antique  style  in  those 
who  could  not  afford  the  real  thing,  or,  if  possessing 
them,  thought  they  were  safer  in  cabinets  than  subject 
to  the  exigencies  of  personal  wear.  However,  most 
of  the  pastes  were  probably  intended  for  cabinet 
collections  originally,  and  the  majority  of  the  settings 
are  later.  They  are  to  be  found  with  gold  or  Pinch- 
beck mountings  in  combs,  rings,  brooches,  and 
bracelets ;  the  tops  of  bags,  purses,  and  snuff-boxes 
are  also  positions  in  which  they  are  set,  often  backed 
with  foil.  They  are  intended,  in  the  larger  sizes, 
to  be  used  in  decorating  furniture,  but  many  pieces 
so  used  do  not  seem  to  have  survived.  There  must 
be  thousands  of  them  about.  Tassie  is  said  in 
Rasp^'s  catalogue  to  have  made  more  than  twelve 
thousand  patterns ;  still,  they  are  not  easy  to  obtain, 
and  are  now  much  more  expensive  than  they  used  to 
be  when  bought  from  regular  dealers  in  antiques  ; 
but  some  jewellers  and  pawnbrokers  who  buy  old 
jewellery  to  break  up,  do  not  put  any  value  on  them, 


CAMEOS  AND  INTAGLIOS  335 

not  understanding  their  artistic  merit,  but  simply 
considering  them  as  bits  of  glass.  From  such  sources 
valuable  additions  to  one's  collection  may  be  made. 
A  collector  lately  bought  a  very  nice  bracelet  set 
in  Pinchbeck,  containing  eight  of  them,  out  of  a  tray 
containing  numerous  oddments,  marked,  "Any  of 
these,  7s.  6d."  Those  in  pretty,  bright  colours  are  more 
expensive  than  the  duller  ones.  Prices  now  begin 
at  about  2s.  6d.  They  are  most  charming  things 
to  collect  for  those  who  want  an  inexpensive  hobby. 

The  following  quotation  from  Rasp6's  catalogue 
shows  the  care  spent  on  them : — 

"  The  gems,  whether  intaglios  or  cameos,  were 
moulded,  and  pastes  were  cast  and  finished  from 
these  in  coloured  glass,  which,  when  the  nature  of 
the  work  would  admit  of  it,  were  carefully  polished ; 
and  where  the  colour,  mixed  colours,  and  nature 
of  the  respective  originals  could  be  ascertained,  they 
were  imitated  as  completely  as  art  can  imitate  them. 
So  that  any  of  the  paste  intaglios  and  cameos  are  so 
perfect  that  our  most  eminent  engravers,  Messrs. 
Burch  and  Brown,  are  convinced  that  such  faithful 
imitations  are  facsimiles  and  can  hardly  be  distin- 
guished from  the  originals.  When  the  colour  and 
nature  of  the  gems  could  not  be  authenticated,  the 
pastes  were  executed  in  agreeable  and  chiefly  trans- 
parent colours,  and  constant  attention  was  paid  to 
the  preservation  of  the  outlines,  extremities,  attri- 
butes, and  inscriptions." 

There  are  also  other  impressions  of  antique  gems 
dating  from  the  eighteenth  century  which  are  less 
attractive   than    the  glass   ones.      Those  in  sulphur 


^36        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

red  and  black,  being  frequently  mounted  in  rings. 
They  are  dull  looking,  and  are  not  greatly  collected 
now.  Whole  cabinets  of  them  sometimes  come  on 
the  market  out  of  old  houses.  They  are  interesting 
from  an  artistic  point  of  view,  as  impressions  have 
thus  been  preserved  of  stones  which  have  been  lost 
sight  of.  White  plaster  casts  soaked  in  Castile  soap 
and  polished  were  also  popular.  In  the  eighteenth 
century  the  collection  of  these  things  seems  to  have 
filled  the  place  which  is  to-day  supplied  by  postage 
stamps,  and  to  have  been  carried  to  similar  lengths. 
Contemporary  with  Tassie's  gems,  and  nearly  akin 
to  his  work  in  feeling,  though  differing  in  material 
and  appearance,  were  the  tiny  medallions  issued  from 
Wedgwood's  pottery.  They  were  not  always  copies 
of  antiques,  being  often  designed  by  Flaxman  and 
other  contemporary  artists.  They  were  made  in  the 
celebrated  jasper  ware,  which  had  naturally  a  most 
beautiful  surface,  and  by  some  authorities  it  is  said 
to  have  been  sometimes  finished  by  the  lapidary. 
They  vary  considerably  in  size,  from  the  tiniest, 
which  could  be  set  in  a  ring  or  clasp,  to  the  large 
ones  which  were  intended  for  the  doors  of 
cabinets,  &c. 

They  should  have  "Wedgwood  &  Bentley,"  or 
"Wedgwood"  stamped  clearly  on  the  back  in  a  size 
of  lettering  suitable  to  the  piece,  as  the  factory 
possessed  stamps  of  all  sizes.  However,  some  which 
are  undoubtedly  genuine  are  unmarked.  There  are 
contemporary  forgeries  of  fine  workmanship.  A 
worker  named  Voyez  was  employed  by  Wedgwood, 
who  engaged  him  as  a  modeller  for  three  years.     He 


CAMEOS  AND  INTAGLIOS  337 

considered  him  a  "perfect  master  of  the  antique 
style,"  but  after  twelve  months  he  was  dismissed 
for  drunkenness,  before  the  time  specified  in  the  con- 
tract had  expired,  and  afterwards  spent  some  time  in 
forging  Wedgwood  intaglios  and  seals,  putting  the 
names  "  Wedgwood  &  Bentley  "  on  them.  These 
forgeries  are  all,  apparently,  made  before  1776.  The 
ground  colour  of  the  cameos  may  be  green,  mauve, 
or  buff  (these  fetch  the  highest  prices),  but  the  most 
usual  of  all  is  a  clear  pale  blue,  being  used  as  a 
background  for  white  heads  or  figures.  Some  cameos 
are  all  white  and  some  all  black.  These  latter  are 
ugly,  as  a  rule,  but  I  have  seen  one  surrounded  with 
pearls  as  a  pendant  which  had  a  certain  sombre 
charm.  All  the  varieties  are  mounted  in  many 
different  ways :  as  bracelets,  brooches,  and  necklets, 
and  very  often  form  part  of  the  cut  steel  jewellery 
which  had  such  a  vogue  in  the  last  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

They  often  formed  parts  of  ornaments  strung  up 
out  of  steel  beads,  and  were  also  mounted  in  gold 
and  Pinchbeck  in  the  same  way  that  cameos  and 
glass  were  used.  Boulton,  of  Soho,  Birmingham, 
was  chiefly  associated  with  Wedgwood  in  mounting 
these  cameos,  large  and  small,  in  metal.  The  tiny 
cameos  were  only  fired  once,  but  the  more  important 
pieces  twice.  They  had  other  vicissitudes  to  go 
through  in  the  way  of  polishing  the  edges  and 
finishing,  so  that  it  was  surprising  that  the  prices 
began  so  low  as  ten  for  five  shillings.  Strings  of 
beads,  snuff-boxes,  and  scent-bottles  were  also  made. 

Wedgwood's  catalogue  of  these  cameos  gives  some 


WEDGWOOD  CAMEOS  IN  CUT-STEEL  MOUNTS 

These  are  all  from  the  collection  of  Mr,  F.  Rathbone,  of  20,  Alfred 
Place,  West,  who  kindly  supplied  me  with  the  photographs. 


339 


CAMEOS  AND  INTAGLIOS  341 

very  interesting  particulars  as  to  their  general 
characteristics,  besides  a  list  of  all  the  subjects  in 
which  they  were  made,  which  is  a  valuable  help 
in  ascertaining  the  origin  of  any  doubtful  piece.  He 
tells  us  that,  in  addition  to  the  coloured  grounds, 
they  were  also  made  in  white  bisqu^  at  a  cheaper 
rate  for  cabinet  collections.  These  white  ones  were 
occasionally  mounted  with  enamel  surrounds,  to  be 
worn  on  a  ribbon  like  a  miniature.  I  think  it  was 
not  often  done,  as  I  have  only  seen  one  such  piece, 
but  it  had  a  most  charming  effect.  Seals  were  also 
made  "  with  shanks  highly  polished  and  require  no 
mounting."  They  were  made  in  the  classic  subjects 
and  also  in  "two  complete  sets  of  ciphers,  one 
consisting  of  all  the  combinations  of  two  letters 
and  the  other  of  all  single  letters.^'  What  has  become 
of  all  these  thousands  of  seals  ?  Most  of  them  must 
be  somewhere.  We  see  comparatively  few  in  the 
curio  shops  or  public  collections,  but  they  cannot 
have  evaporated  and  they  do  not  break  easily. 
Perhaps  some  of  the  "  intaglios  part  black  and  the 
surface  blue  and  highly  polished  ;  by  which  means 
they  are  made  to  imitate  the  black  and  blue  onyx," 
still  masquerade  as  stones,  but  the  unmounted  ones 
would  at  once  betray  themselves.  They  are  well 
worth  looking  for,  as  indeed  are  all  these  little  pieces 
of  Wedgwood  jewellery. 

Their  artistic  beauty  makes  them  a  great  addition 
to  any  collection  of  the  more  modern  forms  of 
jewellery.  Gaining  as  they  do  all  their  value  from 
the  workmanship  and  design,  and  owing  practically 
nothing  to  material,  they  form  a  great  contrast  to 


342        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

the  work  of  a  succeeding  period,  when  jewellery 
came  to  mean  nothing  but  so  much  gold  and  so 
many  stones — of  considerable  money  value,  indeed, 
but  totally  destitute  of  either  taste  or  skill  in  the 
use  of  the  costly  material. 

Adams'  jasper  cameos  of  very  similar  style  are  also 
to  be  found  set  in  bracelets,  buttons,  &c.,  and  also 
beads  for  necklaces,  chatelaines,  and  such  things.  They 
bear  the  impressed  mark  "  Adams."  Most  of  those 
I  have  seen  are  blue,  light  or  dark,  with  white  relief. 

Mention  may  be  made  of  the  "  cameos  "  roughly 
cut  in  lava  and  set  in  silver-gilt  or  base  metal,  which 
have  their  origin  in  Italy.  It  is  hard  to  think 
that  any  one  could  possibly  value  them,  as  they 
are  of  coarse  workmanship  and  ugly  colours. 
However,  they  appear  sometimes  in  the  curio  shops. 


XIII 

PASTE 

AND  OTHER 

GLITTERING  SUBSTITUTES 
FOR  DIAMONDS 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PASTE  AND  OTHER  GLITTERING  SUBSTITUTES  FOR 
DIAMONDS 

There  are  a  great  many  substitutes  for  diamonds 
which,  while  hardly  intended  as  imitations  or  false 
gems,  yet  were  designed  to  have  the  same  effect 
as  the  precious  stone,  and  probably  the  wearers 
would  not  have  been  sorry  if  they  had  been  taken 
for  the  real  thing.  First  and  foremost  we  must 
place  paste  and  Strass,  which  certainly  attempted  and 
attained  a  very  close  likeness  to  the  original ;  then 
the  various  natural  crystals  which  have  much  the 
same  appearance  as  paste ;  and  lastly,  another  class 
of  substitute,  which  consisted  of  non-transparent 
substances  of  metallic  origin,  which  had  a  very  good 
general  effect,  but  which  close  examination  would 
instantly  detect.  Of  these  marcasite  bears  the 
closest  resemblance  to  the  precious  stone,  and  looks 
almost  exactly  like  it  in  gas-  or  candle-light.  Steel 
is  another  instance  of  the  same  class ;  cut  silver  was 
also  used.  All  these  substitutes  came  into  being 
owing  to  the  general  rise  of  the  middle  classes  to 
positions  of  comfort  and  luxury.  There  had  arisen 
an  intermediate  class  of  much  better  general  educa- 

346 


346        CHATS  ON   OLD  JEWELLERY 

tion  and  some  pretension,  and  naturally  they  wished 
to  have,  at  any  rate,  the  outward  appearance  of 
those  with  whom  they  "  rubbed  elbows."  They  were 
also  worn,  by  those  who  could  not  afford  diamonds, 
for  details  such  as  shoe  buckles  and  buttons. 

Paste,  or  Strass,  in  its  various  forms  consists  of 
glass  of  a  hard  and  bright  kind,  which  is  cut  in 
the  same  way  as  diamonds,  and  mounted  so  as  to 
resemble  these  stones.  These  imitations,  however, 
have  not  the  same  power  of  reflecting  the  light  from 


Paste  Brooch.    Diamond  pastes  in  bow, 

with  three  larger  sapphire  pastes. 

Mid-eighteenth  century. 


the  interior  that  the  real  stones  possess,  so  they 
have  to  be  mounted  over  foil  in  order  that  the  light 
may  be  thrown  back,  instead  of  passing  through 
them.  This  foil  often  gets  discoloured  with  age,  but 
it  is  a  mistake  to  have  the  stone  taken  out  and  the 
foil  replaced,  as  this  gives  a  garish  look  to  the  stones. 
Old  paste  has  a  softness  of  colour  which  modern 
imitations  entirely  lack.  This  is  probably  due  to 
some  slight  impurity  in  the  glass.  One  notices  the 
same  thing  in  the  copies  of  old  drinking-glasses  ; 
there   is   always  a  hard   look   about  the  substance, 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  DIAMONDS       347 

quite  different   to  the  soft  mellow  tone  of  the  old 
ones. 

The  oldest  paste  imitating  diamonds  has  each 
stone  set  separately,  though  the  settings  touch  one 
another  ;  the  later  ones  (eighteenth  century)  more 
usually  have  the  stones  side  by  side  in  sunk  settings, 
and  are  held  in  place  by  up-standing  grains.  This 
method  shows  much  less  metal.  Stras,  or  Strass, 
is  a  form  of  paste  invented  by  a  man  of  that  name, 
who  resided  in  Paris.  It  was  introduced  in  1758, 
we  are  told  by  M.  Fontenay ;  but  Pouget  fils,  writing 
in  1762,  tells  us  in  an  oft-quoted  phrase,  that  "it 
had  so  prodigious  a  vogue,  that 
for  some  time  ladies  had  worn 
no  other  stones  but  this,  but  the 
stone  is  rather  brittle,  and  does 

not    keep    its    brilliancy,"   which      Diamond  Paste  Oma- 

reads  as  if  it  had  been   in  use         ™^"J-    }f^^  ,^^ 

eighteenth  century. 

for  more  than  four  years. 

They  are  very  charming,  these  paste  ornaments 
worn  in  the  eighteenth  century ;  their  graceful  designs 
and  delicate  settings  remove  them  out  of  the  rank 
of  mere  imitations,  and  they  deserve  to  be  classed 
as  works  of  art  by  reason  of  the  exquisite  work- 
manship displayed  in  them.  They  are  valued 
according  to  the  lightness  and  beauty  of  design. 
Small  "  stones "  are  generally  preferred  to  larger 
ones,  and  a  variety  in  the  sizes  used  in  a  piece  adds 
considerably  to  its  appearance.  The  settings  are 
generally  of  silver.  Pewter,  too,  is  used  and  for 
coloured  pastes  gold  or  silver-gilt.  The  diamond 
paste   is   much   more  common   than  that  imitating 


348        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

emeralds,  rubies,  and  sapphires,  as  those  stones  were 
less  fashionable  towards  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  making  and  setting  of  paste  reached 
its  zenith. 

Marcasite. — This  is  the  name  of  a  mineral  which 
closely  resembles  iron  pyrites,  being  formed  of  the 
same  elements  in  the  same  proportions  but  differing 
in  physical  and  chemical  characters  (Church).  This 
has  caused  a  confusion  between  the  two.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  is  the  pyrites  which  is  used  for 
the  jewellery.  No  doubt  the  mistake  arose  from 
the  mineral  being  used  for  "  Marquise "  rings,  but 
the  stones  are  by  no  means  always  set  in  this  form. 
It  is  also  variously  spelt  "  Marquisette  "  and  "  Mar- 
quisite."  The  cutting  into  facets  was  done  by  hand  ; 
they  are  either  round  or  pointed,  for  of  course  it  was 
not  any  use  cutting  them  into  brilliants,  as  the 
material  was  solid.  Marcasite  jewellery  came,  with 
other  substitutes  for  diamonds,  into  fashion  under 
Louis  XIV.,  and  during  his  and  the  two  following 
reigns  was  much  in  use,  and  amongst  it  will  be 
found  very  charming  examples  of  the  jeweller's  art 
of  the  time  ;  which  like  other  objects  of  their  period 
show  how  materials  of  intrinsically  small  value  can 
be  made,  by  good  workmanship  and  suitable  design, 
more  worthy  of  our  attention  than  pieces  of  which 
the  actual  cost  of  the  materials  is  perhaps  a  hundred 
times  more.  I  have  been  amused  to  see  a  lady,  with 
an  ordinary  commonplace  diamond  star  brooch,  look 
on  with  surprise  while  artistic  people  were  admiring 
a  pendant  of  fine  eighteenth-century  workmanship, 
composed   of  what    she  would   no  doubt  have   de- 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  DIAMONDS       349 


scribed  as  a  common  mineral  with  a  blue  glass 
background,  while  no  notice  was  taken  of  her 
ornament.  No  doubt  to  her  the  marcasite  pendant 
could  never  be  more  than  the  "  primrose  by  the 
river's  brim"  was  to  Peter  Bell. 

The  stones  are  always  mounted  in  silver  in  the 
same  way  that  diamonds  of  the  period  were  set. 
They  are,  perhaps,  shown  at  their  best  when  arranged 
in  the  daintiest  of  designs — a  tiny 
bouquet  or  basket  of  flowers,  or  a 
little  spray  consisting  of  a  floret 
and  a  leaf  or  two  over  a  back- 
ground of  glass  backed  with  foil. 
This  is  of  various  colours  ;  but  much 
the  most  ordinary,  and  at  the  same 
time  prettiest,  is  the  rich  deep  cobalt 
blue  over  gold  foil.  The  red  and 
green  glasses  are  much  less  com- 
mon, and  are  far  less  artistic,  though 
the  green  looks  well  enough  if  the 
spray  covering  it  is  pretty  full, 
otherwise  the  effect  is  heavy. 

These  stones  (it  is  convenient  to 
call  them  thus,  though  it  is  strictly 
a  misnomer)  are  at  their  best  when  very '  small, 
the  brilliancy  then  being  considerably  increased  as 
more  light  is  reflected.  Of  course,  there  is  no 
reflection  from  the  back  as  there  would  be  in  paste 
or  diamonds.  Marcasite  jewellery  made  in  the 
eighteenth  century  is  decidedly  scarce.  There  was 
a  later  revival  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, when  the   old   designs   were   well   copied,   on 

18 


Marcasite  Pendant. 
Probably  an  ear- 
ring originally. 


350        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

the  whole ;  but  the  setting  of  the  minute  stones  was 
not  done  in  the  same  way,  being  drilled  into  the 
solid  metal  instead  of  set  by  the  old  method,  other- 
wise the  resemblance  is  in  many  cases  very  complete. 
Some  modern  copies  have  been  made,  but  they 
have  been  "  manufactured,"  and  there  is  a  coarse- 
ness in  the  effect  owing  to  the  absence  of  the  fine, 
dainty  finish  so  conspicuous  in  the  old  work.  Mar- 
casite  jewellery  is  said  to  have  been  made  a  great 
deal  in  Switzerland,  where  ladies  were  prohibited 
from  adorning  themselves  with  diamonds.  Whether 
it  was  used  in  France  by  the  nobility  from  motives 
of  economy  or  not,  is  not  so  certain  ;  still,  Pouget 
fils,  writing  in  1762,  says,  "  M.  de  Silhouette"  (who 
was  for  a  time  Minister  of  Finance  to  Louis  XV.) 
"had  made  it  fashionable  in  France."  This  is  an 
allusion  to  a  scheme  of  retrenchment  by  which  he 
sought  to  revive  the  waning  credit  of  France ;  but 
as  the  plan  was  rejected  and  the  minister  dismissed 
ignominiously,  it  is  not  very  probable  that  he  should 
have  set  a  fashion  at  Court,  where  his  name  was 
derisively  given  to  those  thin  shadows  of  portraits 
cut  in  black  paper,  which  were  just  becoming 
popular. 

Poor  M.  de  Silhouette,  you  did  your  best  for 
your  country,  and  in  return  are  mocked  at,  even 
by  the  Court  jeweller ! 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  aristocracy  were  im- 
poverished from  one  cause  or  another  and  well 
may  have  been  glad  to  share  with  the  middle  classes 
a  kind  ot  ornament  which  had  a  very  good  appear- 
ance at  a  comparatively  slight  cost.     Marcasite  had, 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  DIAMONDS       351 

too,  an  advantage  over  paste  and  Strass  in  that  it 
wore  much  better.  I  am  not  sure  whether,  being 
an  iron  compound,  it  is  liable  to  rust,  but  I  have  not 
seen  it  so  damaged  ;  however,  it  would  be  wiser  for 
owners  to  run  no  risks  of  possible  harm  arising  from 
this  cause. 

Pretty  well  everything  that  was  made  of  paste 
and  diamonds  was  also  made  of  this  mineral ;  neck- 
laces, buttons,  pendants,  brooches,  pins,  shoe  buckles, 
and  chatelaines  are  all  thus  mounted.  Miniature  cases 
and  snuff-boxes  have  also  been  edged  with  rows 
of  it 

The  old  name  in  France  appears  to  have  been 
"  Pierre  des  Incas,"  in  allusion  to  the  ancient  inhabi- 
tants of  Peru,  Pouget  fils  tells  us  "  they  made 
ornaments  of  it,  and  put  large  pieces  in  their  tombs." 

Steel  Jewellery. — Though  steel  jewellery  does  not 
resemble  diamonds  nearly  as  closely  as  do  paste 
and  marcasite  it  yet  owes  its  vogue  to  the  same 
desire  which  is  expressed  all  through  the  eighteenth 
century  for  anything  that  reflects  back  glittering 
points  of  light.  Of  course,  these  pieces  could  never 
have  deceived  any  one  as  to  their  composition,  but 
they  were  very  pretty  and  are  most  beautifully  made, 
and  were  valued  independently  of  their  resemblance 
to  diamonds.  A  great  deal  was  made  in  Birmingham 
and  Wolverhampton,  and  celebrated  -  makers  were 
Boulton  of  Birmingham  and  John  Warrilow  of 
Wolverhampton.  For  fine  work  enormous  prices 
were  paid.  The  facets  were  fixed  by  riveting. 
The  designs  are  often  exceedingly  fine  and  delicate, 
because,  as  the  material  was  not  transparent,  it  was 


CUT  STEEL 

Shoe  buckles,  clasps,  and  buttons  in  fine  cut  steel.  Reproduced  by 
kind  permission  of  the  authorities  of  the  Birmingham  Museum. 
In  the  centre  is  a  cut-steel  waist  buckle  of  English  workmanship 
with  blue  fillet  and  faceted  studs. 


852 


353 


SUBSTITUTES  FOR  DIAMONDS       355 

necessary  to  have  many  separate  studs  to  get  the 
full  effect  of  the  reflected  light.  All  the  work  was 
done  to  that  end,  and  it  is  from  that  point  of  view 
that  we  must  judge  it,  so  it  is  valued  according 
to  the  number  and  delicacy  of  the  facets  and  the 
grace  of  their  arrangement.  Those  pieces  in  which 
a  variety  of  arrangements  are  shown  are  better  than 
the  simpler  ones.  Chatelaines  (a  very  ordinary  thing 
made  in  steel)  should  have  a  number  of  patterns 
of  links ;  one  in  my  possession  has  nine  kinds,  all 
of  them  very  pretty.  Some  of  them  have  facets 
cut  on  the  links  themselves  ;  others  are  studded  with 
riveted-on  facets.  The  purse  is  made  of  chain  links 
with  hanging  tassels.  The  fashion  was  introduced 
into  France  in  the  latter  part  of  the  century,  and 
the  workmen  there  adopted  English  designs  and 
English  methods  of  working.  About  1780  there  was 
a  very  successful  French  maker  named  Dauffe. 

We  find,  as  well  as  the  less  important  things  such 
as  buttons  and  buckles,  that  delicate  necklaces, 
bracelets,  and  so  on,  were  also  made  of  this  material. 
It  is,  perhaps,  seen  at  its  very  best  as  a  mount  for  the 
exquisite  Wedgewood  cameos,  which  seem  to  tone 
perfectly  with  the  rather  subdued  glitter  of  the  steel. 
No  pains  were  spared  in  the  tiny  rosettes  and  filigree- 
like patterns  which  surround  these  fairylike  works  of 
art.  The  whole  effect  is  most  dainty,  and  it  hardly 
seems  possible  that  it  should  be  composed  of  such 
prosaic  materials  as  earthenware  and  steel. 

A  much  inferior  kind  of  steel  jewellery  was  intro- 
duced about  1 8 19  by  a  Frenchman  named  Trichot, 
who  invented  a  mechanical  means  of  making  it  very 


356        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

cheaply.  It  became  very  fashionable,  and  was,  and 
is,  made  in  enormous  quantities  ;  but  it  is  not  worthy  of 
consideration.  It  is  mentioned  here  to  put  collectors 
on  their  guard.  The  facets  are  not  separately  fixed  by 
hand  as  in  the  original  kind,  but  made  en  bloc  in  a 
kind  of  open-work,  ready  for  applying  to  anything 
required.  The  designs  are  vulgarised  and  common- 
place, and  there  is  naturally  none  of  the  dainty 
perfection  of  finish  which  marks  earlier  work. 
There  has  not  been,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  any 
deliberate  copying  of  fine  old  steel  jewellery  to  sell 
as  old.  But  one  does  see  the  poor  kind,  mentioned 
above,  for  sale  in  dealers'  shops  at  absurdly  high 
prices.  The  fine  genuine  kind  demands  too  much 
handwork  to  make  it  profitable  to  imitate  in  the 
same  way  as  it  was  originally  made. 


XIV 
PINCHBECK 


PINCHBECK 

1.  Shell  cameo  in  Pinchbeck  mount.     Early  nineteenth  century. 

2.  Waist  buckle  in  open  work.     Eighteenth  century. 

3.  Back  of  miniature  case.     About  1760. 

4.  Hair  ornament.     Ears  of  wheat.     Each  grain  is  one  of  a  group  of 

four  which  have  been  stamped  in  a  star  shape  out  of  matted 
Pinchbeck.  They  have  been  bent  up,  and  are  mounted  on  a 
central  wire. 

5.  Pendant  (part  of  ear-ring).     Aquamarines  set  in  stamped  Pinch- 

beck.    About  1835. 


868 


syj 


CHAPTER   XIV 

PINCHBECK 

Almost  every  dealer  who  keeps  antique  jewellery  as 
part  of  his  stock,  has  a  tray  of  various  oddments 
in  which  we  may  count  on  finding  a  fair  number  of 
pieces  on  which  he  bestows  the  name  of  *'  Pinchbeck." 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  as  a  rule  the  name  is .  not 
rightly  applied  to  one-tenth  of  them  ;  but  it  has 
become  almost  a  general  term  for  all  jewellery  made 
out  of  substitutes  for  gold,  so  I  have  followed  the 
general  custom  and  headed  this  chapter  with  this 
title.  Under  this  generic  name  are  included  all 
alloys  which  have  had  originally,  and  preserve  to  a 
certain  extent,  a  colour  which  bears  a  close  resem- 
blance to  gold.  They  have  been  given  at  different 
times  various  fancy  names,  such  as  Tombac,  Prince's 
Metal,  and  Mosaic  Gold.  It  is  worth  while,  how- 
ever, to  know  somewhat  of  the  real  history  of  the 
origin  and  composition  of  Pinchbeck,  as  pieces 
which  may  with  some  probability  be  ascribed  to 
the  inventor,  are  far  more  interesting  than  the  later 
(and  as  a  rule  inferior)  things.  The  ingredients  of 
all  the  alloys  are  copper  and  zinc,  the  same  metals 
which  are  used  in  compounding  brass,  but  in  Pinch- 

361 


362        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

beck  the  zinc  is  used  in  a  lesser  proportion.  In 
brass  it  varies  from  one  part  to  three,  to  two  to 
three,  while  in  Pinchbeck  it  is  about  one  part  to 
ten.  There  must,  however,  it  seems  to  me,  have 
been  some  further  trade  secret,  either  in  the  process 
of  manufacture  or  in  the  after-treatment,  to  account 
for  the  much  superior  wearing  qualities  and  colour 
of  Pinchbeck.  Possibly  a  slight  wash  of  gold  was 
used  on  the  surface  to  prevent  tarnish.  This  has 
remained  in  the  hollows,  and  on  the  rubbed  parts 
the  very  friction  which  wore  away  the  gilding  would 
serve  to  keep  the  metal  in  bright  condition.  The 
metal  was  first  put  on  the  market  by  a  certain 
Christopher  Pinchbeck  (1670-1732),  who  is  said  to 
have  invented  it,  and  it  soon  became  exceedingly 
popular.  The  appearance,  especially  when  new,  was 
so  like  gold,  that  it  appealed  at  once  to  all  those 
who,  either  from  thrift  or  lack  of  means,  thought  real 
gold  too  expensive  a  material  to  use  for  the  less 
important  articles  of  personal  ornament.  Another 
motive  for  wearing  it,  referred  to  in  the  advertise- 
ment which  follows,  is  that  things  made  of  this 
metal  made  a  special  appeal  to  travellers.  In  those 
days  when  a  journey  of  even  a  few  miles  out  of 
London  led  through  roads  infested  by  thieves  and 
highway  robbers,  careful  folk  preferred  not  to  tempt 
these  "  gentlemen  of  the  road  "  by  wearing  expensive 
ornaments  unless  travelling  with  a  good  escort ;  so 
not  only  would  a  traveller  with  a  base  metal  watch 
and  buckles  lose  less  if  robbed,  but  owing  to  the 
freemasonry  which  existed  between  innkeepers  and 
postilions  and  the  highwaymen,  they  were  actually 


PINCHBECK  363 

less  likely  to  be  stopped,  as  it  was  not  worth  while 
to  run  risks  for  such  a  poor  spoil.  Therefore  while 
of  course  much  of  it  was  made  to  enable  the 
wearers  to  make  a  fair  show  at  a  small  expense,  a 
good  deal  was  also  made  for  the  "  nobility  and 
gentry,"  who  used  such  things  as  watches,  sword- 
hilts,  and  buckles  made  of  it 

In  1732  Christopher  the  first  (one  of  his  sons 
was  also  Christopher)  was  gathered  to  his  fathers, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Edward  Pinchbeck, 
who  continued  to  trade  in  the  same  material. 

He  was  much  annoyed,  evidently,  at  the  too  sincere 
flattery  of  trade  rivals,  who  brought  out  imitations, 
no  doubt  to  the  detriment  of  his  business.  He 
therefore  inserted  a  long  advertisement  in  the  Daily 
Post  of  July  II,  1733,  headed  "Caution  to  the 
Publick."  The  following  extracts  will  be  interesting, 
as  they  show  the  kind  of  thing  principally  made 
by  the  original  firm  : — 

"  To  prevent  for  the  future  the  gross  imposition 
that  is  daily  put  upon  the  Publick  by  a  great  number 
of  Shop-Keepers,  Hawkers,  and  Pedlars,  in  and 
about  this  town.  Notice  is  hereby  given.  That  the 
Ingenious  Mr.  Edward  Pinchbeck,  at  the  *  Musical 
Clock '  in  Fleet  Street,  does  not  dispose  of  one  grain 
of  his  curious  metal,  which  so  nearly  resembles 
Gold  in  Colour,  Smell  and  Ductility,  to  any  person 
whatsoever,  nor  are  the  Toys  made  of  the  said 
metal,  sold  by  any  one  person  in  England  except 
himself:  therefore  gentlemen  are  desired  to  beware 
of  Impostors,  who  frequent  Coffee  Houses,  and 
expose   for   Sale,   Toys   pretended   to   be   made   of 


364        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

this  metal,  which  is  a  most  notorious  imposition, 
upon  the  Publick.  And  Gentlemen  and  Ladies, 
may  be  accommodated  by  the  said  Mr.  Pinchbeck 
with  the  following  curious  Toys  ;  viz. :  Sword- Hilts, 
Hangers,  Cane  Heads,  Whip  Handles,  for  Hunting, 
Spurs,  Equipages,^  Watch  chains.  Tweezers  for 
Men  and  Women,  Snuff-Boxes,  Coat  Buttons,  Shirt 
buttons,  Knives  and  forks,  Spoons,  Salvers,  Buckles 
for  Ladies  Breasts,  Stock  Buckles,  Shoe  Buckles,  Knee 
Buckles,  Girdle  Buckles,  Stock  Clasps,  Knee  Clasps, 
Necklaces,  Corals,  and  in  particular  Watches,  plain  and 
chased  in  so  curious  a  manner  as  not  to  be  dis- 
tinguished by  the  nicest  eye,  from  the  real  gold, 
and  which  are  highly  necessary  for  Gentlemen  and 
Ladies  when  they  travel,  with  several  other  fine 
pieces  of  workmanship  of  all  sorts  made  by  the 
best  hands.  He  also  makes  Repeating  and  all  other 
sorts  of  Clocks  and  Watches  particularly  Watches 
of  a  new  invention,  the  mechanism  of  which  is  so 
simple,  and  the  proportion  so  just,  that  they  come 
nearer  the  truth  than  others  yet  made." 

On  the  whole,  it  will  be  found  that  they  are  princi- 
pally things  for  use  cis  well  as  ornament,  if  we  except 
necklaces. 

This  early  Pinchbeck  is  very  beautifully  worked 
up  and  finished,  some  of  the  miniature  cases  and 
watches-  being  designed  and  chased  in  a  very 
masterly  manner.  They  of  course  followed  the 
general  type  of  goldwork  of  the  day,  and  the 
design  is  of  the  type  known  as  Rococo.  I  have 
seen   a   chatelaine   of  this   material   which    had   so 

*  I.e.,  chatelaiDes. 


PINCHBECK  365 

preserved  its  original  colour  and  surface,  having  been 
carefully  kept,  that  it  was  for  years  considered  by 
the  lady  to  whom  it  belonged  to  be  gold.  She  was 
very  annoyed  at  finding  it  was  not  of  the  precious 
metal,  and  removed  it  from  the  post  of  honour  which 
it  had  previously  held  on  her  curio  table.  This 
seems  to  me  a  very  commercial  point  of  view. 
Surely  antiques  should  be  judged  as  works  of 
art  and  not  by  the  worth  of  the  material. 

The  fame  of  English  makers   spread   to   France, 
where     the    alloy    was     evidently    in     considerable 
demand,  especially   for    watches.     In    that    country 
it  was  known  variously  as  Pinsbeck,  Pincebeck,  and 
Pinsbek.      A    metal  of  the  same  character  was   in- 
vented by  a  Lille  jeweller  named  Rentz,  but  it  had 
one   very  important   failing — it  lost  its   colour  very 
soon.     Before  it  could  be  held  to  justify  the  name 
of  "similor"  it  had  to  be  perfected  by  Leblanc,  a 
worker  in  the  Royal  employ,  who  somewhat  altered 
the   manufacture  of  it  and  obtained   a   really  good 
imitation.     A  great  deal  of  jewellery  was  made  out 
of  it,  and  it  was  very  well  patronised  ;  but  it  aroused 
the  indignation  of  the  workers  in  the  genuine  metal, 
and  legal  proceedings  were  instituted,  with  the  result 
that  after  a  time  the  alloy  was  only  allowed  to  be 
used  for  such  things  as  shoe  buckles,  buttons,   &c., 
which  did  not  much  compete  with  the  'regular  gold- 
smiths' work.     It  has  been  said  that  with  Edward 
Pinchbeck's  death  the  secret  of  the  correct  method 
of  making  it,  whatever  it  was,  died  out,  but  metal 
bearing  a  close  resemblance  to  it  continued  to  be 
used  well  into  the  nineteenth  century — in  fact,  until 


366        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

the  process  of  electro-gilding  made  it  easy  and  cheap 
to  deposit  a  wash  of  gold  on  any  metal  as  required. 
Brass  articles  with  a  coating  of  gold  are  often 
passed  off  as  Pinchbeck,  and  even  if  they  are  without 
the  gilding  some  dealers  think  "  Pinchbeck  "  sounds 
better  and  helps  to  sell  their  stock.  If  unacquainted 
with  the  respective  appearance  of  the  metals,  brass 
may  be  distinguished  by  having  a  metallic  smell, 
especially  when  a  little  warmed  by  being  held  and 
rubbed  in  the  hand.  Rolled  gold  which  is  some- 
times offered  for  it  is  quite  a  modern  invention,  and 
consists  of  an  exceedingly  thin  plate  of  gold  on  a 
background  of  inferior  metal.  The  gold  forms  a 
part  of  the  sheet,  wire,  or  whatever  it  is,  before 
being  made  up,  and  is  not  a  wash  or  coating  added 
after. 

A  very  charming  collection  illustrative  of  the 
general  forms  of  the  eighteenth-century  jewellery 
might  be  got  together,  consisting  of  work  in  this 
metal,  probably  at  one-twentieth  of  the  price  which 
would  be  paid  for  the  same  things  in  gold.  Besides, 
the  price  is  further  reduced  because  as  a  rule  the 
stones  are  not  real ;  and  buckles  of  Pinchbeck  and 
paste,  mock  pearls,  or  coral  will  serve  to  illustrate 
design  and  workmanship  as  well  as  the  finest  dia- 
monds and  purest  gold.  Really  good  Pinchbeck  is 
not,  however,  very  cheap,  watches  especially  being 
much  collected,  five  to  ten  pounds  being  sometimes 
given  for  a  nice,  early  specimen  by  a  good  maker. 
On  the  other  hand  buckles  of  early  design  may  be  ob- 
tained for  about  five  to  ten  shillings  each  ;  a  nice 
chatelaine  would  probably  be  worth  thirty  shillings 


PINCHBECK  367 

or  more.  A  very  handsome  pair  of  buckles,  most 
beautifully  chased,  were  offered  me  the  other  day 
for  fifteen  shillings  The  colour  is  as  good  as  the 
day  they  were  made,  and  the  cost  of  making  them  a 
hundred  years  ago  must  have  been  considerably 
more,  as  the  workmanship  was  that  of  a  master- 
hand.  Snuff-boxes  in  good  early  styles  are  always 
of  value,  and  according  to  the  amount  of  decora- 
tion may  be  worth  from  five  shillings  upwards. 
Buttons  are  not  much  collected,  and  there  are  a  good 
many  about  which  can  be  obtained  at  a  shilling  each 
or  less.  Of  course,  when  we  come  to  those  which 
are  set  with  such  things  as  Wedgwood  cameos 
and  Tassie  gems,  though  the  setting  is  somewhat 
later  than  the  original  maker's  productions,  these 
charming  copies  of  the  antique  have  a  certain  value 
of  their  own  apart  from  the  mounting.  Rather  later. 
Pinchbeck,  and  similar  base  metals  were  used  for  the 
cheaper  kind  of  jewellery  which  had  such  a  vogue 
during  the  Directoire  and  Empire  periods  especi- 
ally for  the  mounting  of  the  high  combs,  set  with 
modern  cameos,  mock  pearls,  coral,  tortoiseshell,  and 
such  materials,  which  were  almost  universally  worn  at 
that  time.  These,  though  so  plentiful  in  their  day,  do 
not  appear  in  any  quantity  in  dealers'  shops,  as  a  rule. 
Whether  they  are  really  scarce  or  whether  there  is 
only  a  small  market  for  them  and  so  are  not  made  a 
feature  of  is  uncertain.  Probably  if  there  was  a  demand 
for  them  numbers  would  appear  from  somewhere. 
This  is  not  meant  to  infer  that  they  would  be  imita- 
tions, but  simply  that  people,  seeing  they  had  a  pecu- 
niary value,  would  turn  out  their  stores  and  produce 


368        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

hidden  treasures,  in  the  same  way  they  have  done 
lately  with  lustre  ornaments.  Five  years  ago  one 
hardly  saw  one  about.  Now  every  curio  shop  has  a  few 
for  sale.  A  very  frequent  ornament  for  the  hair  was  a 
bunch  of  wheat,  and  this,  like  every  ornament  of  the 
early  nineteenth  century,  was  copied  in  Pinchbeck.  It 
had  a  very  pretty  effect,  but  there  is  not  the  same 
perfect  workmanship  in  the  work  of  those  later  times 
as  there  was  in  that  made  when  the  original  firm 
worked  ;  and  though  interesting  as  examples  of  a 
certain  class  of  ornament,  they  are  not  in  the  same 
category  as  to  craftsmanship  as  the  earlier  pieces. 

Pinchbeck  was  also  used  for  piqu6  work,i  with 
a  leather  ground  in  place  of  the  tortoiseshell  of  the 
more  expensive  pieces. 

'  For    particulars    of   this    work,   see    Chapter    on    "  Eighteenth 
Century  Jewellery,  General,"  page  146. 


XV 
BCX>KS 


19 


CHAPTER   XV 

BOOKS 

Sooner  or  later  every  collector  begins  to  specialise. 
Perhaps  a  lucky  find  or  two  turns  his  attention 
towards  some  one  branch  and  leads  him  to  wish 
to  enlarge  both  his  knowledge  and  his  collection 
in  that  particular  direction.  He  cannot  do  better, 
if  circumstances  permit,  than  study  every  example 
of  the  chosen  class  that  he  can  find  in  museums 
and  elsewhere,  and  read  everything  that  he  can 
discover  on  the  subject.  But  time  is  often  limited, 
and  in  order  to  help  those  who  do  not  care  to  wade 
through  volume  after  volume  in  which,  perhaps, 
there  is  only  a  bare  reference  to  their  subject,  I 
have  prepared  a  list  of  works  which  indicate  those 
books  which  perhaps  will  be  found  most  iiseful 
in  each  class.  There  are,  of  course,  many  others 
in  which  very  useful  information  may  be  found, 
but  to  name  them  all  would  be  to  make  the  list 
too  long. 

Egyptian. — A  most  interesting  account  of  Egyptian 
jewellery  is  given  in  Professor  Flinders  Petrie's 
"Arts  and  Crafts  of  Ancient  Egypt,"  which  gives 
most  useful  particulars  so  simply  that  anyone  can 

371 


372        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

understand  them,  though  he  is  so  great  an  authority 
on  the  subject.  An  article  on  Scarabs  in  the  Con- 
noisseur, vol.  XV.  p.  249,  will  make  the  subsequent 
understanding  of  such  works  as  "  The  Sacred  Beetle  " 
(Ward)  and  Professor  Petrie's  "  Historical  Scarabs," 
easier. 

The  Guide  to  the  Egyptian  Collections  and  the 
third  and  fourth  Egyptian  Rooms  at  the  British 
Museum  contains  a  mine  of  information  as  to 
Amulets  and  Scarabs. 

Greek,  Etruscan,  and  Roman. — For  this  subject  one 
must  search  in  such  works  as  "  Mycenae,"  by 
Schlieman;  "Les  Civilizations  Primitives  en  Italic," 
by  Montelius,  and  the  "  Catalogue  of  Greek,  Etruscan, 
and  Roman  Finger  Rings  at  the  British  Museum," 
by  Marshall.  There  is  an  excellent  chapter  on  En- 
graved Gems  in  Murray's  "  Handbook  of  Greek 
Archeology,"  and  the  British  Museum  Guide  is 
also  helpful. 

Byzantine. — The  Guide  and  the  Catalogue  of 
Byzantine  and  Early  Christian  Antiquities  in  the 
British  Museum  by  Dalton  are  invaluable. 

Barbarian  and  Inlaid  Jewellery. — For  Ancient  Inlaid 
Jewellery  see  Dalton's  "Treasure  of  the  Oxus";  for 
the  Inlaid  Jewellery  of  the  Dark  Ages  his  article 
in  the  Burlington  Magazine.  Celtic  jewellery  is 
fully  treated  in  Romilly  Allen's  "  Celtic  Art  in  Pagan 
and  Christian  Times  "  (this  is  also  most  helpful  as  to 
very  early  prehistoric  ornaments,  which  I  have 
hardly  touched  upon).  "  Early  Christian  Art  in 
Ireland "  (Stokes)  is  cheap  and  authoritative. 

Anglo-Saxon    jewellery    is    discussed    at    length 


BOOKS  373 

in     De    Baye  s    "  Industrial    Arts    of   the    Anglo- 
Saxons." 

The  monk  Theophilus  should  be  consulted  as  to 
technical  processes  of  Mediaeval  times.  Labarte 
gives  in  his  "  Industrial  Arts  of  the  Middle  Ages " 
a  very  full  and  beautifully  illustrated  account  of 
jewellery. 

Renaissance. — Cellini's  Life  and  his  Treatises  are 
most  valuable  and  should  be  studied,  if  not  in  the 
original  then  Mr.  Ashbee's  delightful  translation 
should  be  used.  Labarte's  "  Industrial  Arts," 
mentioned  above,  is  most  helpful. 

During  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries, 
many  design-books  were  published,  and  the  style 
can  best  be  studied  by  consulting  these.  Very  many 
artists  and  jewellers  issued  them,  arid  by  their  means 
the  same  class  of  design  was  spread  all  over 
Europe. 

Holbein  and  Durer  have  left  original  drawings, 
which  are  to  be  found  at  the  British  Museum. 
Designs  by  Lull  and  the  Santini  family  are  in  the 
print-room  at  South  Kensington,  and  books  of  en- 
gravings by  others  can  be  seen  at  either  library. 

When  we  get  to  the  Eighteenth  Century  we  still 
have  design-books  to  help  us,  also  trade  catalogues. 

For  the  Nineteenth  Century  Vever's- monumental 
work  gives  accounts  and  illustrations  of  the  works 
of  all  the  principal  jewellers. 

Eings. — For  the  classical  period,  the  British 
Museum  catalogue  above  mentioned  should  be 
consulted.  "Finger  Rings,"  by  Jones,  is  full  of 
historical  anecdotes  and  quaint  superstitions,  besides 


374        CHATS  ON  OLD  JEWELLERY 

containing  most  useful  facts  about  the  subject 
"  Antique  Gems  and  Rings,"  by  King,  should  also 
be  consulted. 

Peasant  Jewellery. — "  Die  Volkerschmiick,"  by 
Haberlandt,  is  a  collection  of  photographic  reproduc- 
tions of  all  kinds  of  national  jewellery.  Unfortunately 
they  are  not  grouped  so  as  to  make  comparison 
easy,  though  they  are  well  indexed.  There  is  very 
little  letterpress. 

Oriental  Jewellery. — Bird  wood's  "  Industrial  Arts 
of  India"  contains  a  great  deal  of  valuable  in- 
formation. 

Precious  Stones. — There  is  an  invaluable  little  book 
under  this  title  by  Professor  Church,  on  the  scientific 
side  of  the  question.  Full  accounts  of  each  stone 
with  its  properties,  &c.,  are  given  at  length.  Streeter's 
books,  "  Precious  Stones  and  Gems,"  "  Diamonds," 
and  "Pearls,"  should  be  consulted.  For  legends, 
anecdotes,  and  history,  "  Precious  Stones,"  by  Jones, 
is  a  perfect  mine  of  wealth. 

Cameos. — The  book  of  this  title  by  Davenport 
deals  with  the  whole  subject  in  an  interesting 
way,  and  is  well  illustrated  in  colours.  Babelon's 
"  Catalogue  des  Cam^es  oi  la  Biblotheque  National " 
is  of  great  value ;  King's  "  Handbook  of  Engraved 
Gems"  should  also  be  consulted.  For  copies  of 
Cameos,  Professor  Rasp^'s  catalogue  of  Tassie's 
gems,  and  Miss  Meteyard's  "  Handbook  on  Wedg- 
wood "  should  be  consulted,  also  Wedgwood's  own 
catalogues. 

For  a  detailed  account  of  each  separate  piece  of 
jewellery   such   as   rings,  ear-rings,  &c.,  Fontenay's 


BOOKS  375 

"  Bijoux  Anciens  et  Modernes  "  is  the  great  authority 
(French).  Mr.  Clifford  Smith's  book  on  jewellery 
treats  the  subject  historically,  period  by  period,  as 
does  Roger-Miles  in  his  book  "  Bijouterie  "  (French). 
All  these  works  give  plenty  of  further  references 
to  other  authorities,  if  still  more  detailed  information 
is  desired. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Aah-hotbp,  47 

Acos,  23 

Adams'  medallions,  342 

Adam  style,  135 

Aglet,  23 

Aiglets,  23 

Aigolets,  23 

Alamandine  spinel,  308 

Alfred  jewel,  85 

Amber,  306 

Amulets,  23 

Ancient  British  brooches,  232 

Ancient  Egyptian  work,  47 

Anglo-Saxon  brooches,  233 

Anglo-Saxon  goldsmiths,  85 

Anglo-Saxon  inlay,  82 

Annello  della  morte,  266 

Aquamarine,  306 

Armorial  seal  rings,  264 

Attelath  (brass  of).  275 

Austrian    peasant    jewellery, 

200 
Aventurine,  307 
Aventurine  glass,  25 

Bau^s  ruby,  305 
Barbor  jewel,  326 
Basse  taille  enamel,  28 
Battersea  plaques,  145 
Beaded  wire,  40 


170, 


Beads,  85 

Beads  or  grains,  method  of  making, 

&c.,  33 
Belgian  ornaments,  179 
Beloe,  Mr.,  quoted,  275 
Berghem  Louis  van,  302 
Beryl,  306 
Betrothal  rings,  266 
Bijouterie,  130 
Bijou  tier,  146 
Birdwood,    Sir    George,    quoted, 

211 
Bisqu6  medallions,  341 
Blue  glass  jewellery,  349 
Bodice  fasteners,  191 
Books  on  jewellery,  371 
Botticelli,  286 
Boulton,  337 
Bracelets,  25  ' 

Bracteates,  26 

Brescian  peasant  ornaments,  187 
Brilliants,  30^ 
Briolets,  301 

Bristows,  or  Bristol  diamonds,  25 
Brooches,  229 
Brooches  (memorial),  131 
Brosamer  (design  by).  III 
Buckles,  275 
Bulla,  24 
Burgundine  luxury,  95 


STO 


380 


INDEX 


Byzantine  brooches,  325 
Byzantine  cameos,  323 
Byzantine  enamel,  29 
Byzantine  influence  on  Russian  art, 

199 
Byzantine  jewellery,  91 
Byzantine  pastes,  332 
Byzantine  rings,  263 

Cabochons,  299 

Cairngorms,  308 

Cameos,  77,  121,  140,  155-6,  319 

Caradosso,  30 

Carat,  32,  303 

Carbuncle,  299 

Carlovingian  cameos,  323 

Castellani,  161 

Cat's-eye,  308 

Cellini,  25,  26,  30,  105,  107,  117, 

183,  292,  324 
Celtic  brooches,  233 
Celts,  88 
Chaffinch,  121 
Chains,  26,  54 
Champleve  enamel,  28 
Charles  I.  memorials,  122 
Chatelaines,  146,  255 
Chinese  jewellery,  217 
Chiselled  gold,  139 
Chrysoberyl,  306 
Chrysophase,  308 
Cire  perdu  process,  27 
Clasps,  15s 
Clasp,  Cellini's  clasp  for  Clement 

VII.,  105 
Cloisonne  enamel,  28 
Coc  de  perl,  310 
CoUaert,  106,  112 
Coloured  pastes,  348 
Coloured  stonework,  251 
Combs,  156-7 
Corippus,  quoted,  61 


Coronets,  65 

Cromwell  (Thomas),  293 

Cut  steel,  337,  371 

Daily  Post,  Pinchbeck's  advertise- 
ment quoted,  363 

Damascening,  27 

Daufife,  355 

Decade  rings,  268 

Delaulne,  112 

Delhi  work,  209 

Diamond,  107,  117,  145,  147,  156, 
251,  270,  278,  301 

Diamonds  (coloured),  302 

Directory  style,  135,  153,  367 

Doublets,  303,  313 

Dtirer,  112,  291 

Dutch  jewellery,  171 

Early  brooches,  231 

Ear-rings,  54,  65,  85,  122,  155 

Ear-rings  (Spanish),  195 

Egare,  148 

Egyptian  amulets,  23 

Egyptian  beads,  48 

Eighteenth  century  jewellery,  129 

Elizabeth  (Queen),  and  Hilliard,  293 

Elizabeth  (Queen),   cameo  portraits 

of,  326 
Eloi,  St.,  88 
Emeralds,  306 
Empire  style,  153,  367 
Enamel,  28,  75,  85 
Enamel  (Celtic),  89 
Enamel  (Chinese),  221 
Enamel  (Eighteenth  century),  141 
Enamel  (Hungarian),  201 
Enamel  (Indian),  216 
Enamel  (Marquise),  145 
Enamel  (Renaissance),  107 
Enamel  (Russian),  199 
Enamel  (Seventeenth  century),  I2I 


INDEX 


381 


Engraved  gems,  263 
Enseignes,  29,  246 
Episcopal  rings,  271 
Etruscan  jewellery,  56 
Etruscan  enamel,  57 
Etruscan  rings,  263 
Etui,  30 

Fkatherwork,  217 
Fermeil,  31,  94 
Ferroniere,  31 
Fibula,  30,  61,  67 

Filigree,  31,53.  77,  I79.  I9S 

Filigree  enamel,  28 

Fillet,  30 

Flaxman,  336 

Flemish  pendants,  179 

Florentine  mosaic,  34 

Florentine  turquoise  work,  187 

Frauds,  303 

Fuggers  of  Augsberg,  106 

Gajo  and  Cellini,  108 

Garnets,  83,  141,  306 

Gem  rings,  263 

George,  31 

Gherlandayo,  287 

Giardinetti  rings,  269 

Gimmel  rings,  267 

Girdanoles,  247 

Girdle  hangers,  31 

Glass  gems,  65 

Glass  (millefiore),  34 

Glenlyon  brooch,  246 

Gold,  31,  47,  87 

Gold  a  quatre  couleurs,  1 39 

Goldsmiths    of    the    Renaissance, 

social  status,  285 
Goldsmiths'  first  English  charter,  95 
Granulations,  33 
Granulated  work,  49,  56 
Granulated  work  (Delhi),  209 


Greek  jewellery,  53' 
Greek  work  copied,  161-5 
Grisaille   paintings  on  ivory,    140, 

251 
Gypcieres,  33 

Hair  jewellery,  166 
Head  ornaments,  55,  155 
Heraldic  seals,  319 
Hilliard  (Nicholas),  293-5 
Hippocamp,  33 
Holbein,  112,  292 
Hungarian  jewellery,  201 

Imitations  of  antique  gems,  330 

Imitation  pearls,  31 

Imitation  stones,  311 

Incrusted  enamel,  29 

Indian  jewellers,  skill  of,  21 1 

Indian  jewellery,  207 

Initial  jewels,  112 

Inlaid  jewellery,  49,  81 

Intaglios,  329 

Iron  Age  (brooches  of),  232 

Iron  jewellery,  166 

Italian  ornaments,  183 

Jacobinism,  282 

Jade  (Chinese),  217 

Jade  (Delhi),  204 

Jade  (New  Zealand),  224 

Jade  ring,  272 

Jaipur  enamel,  216 

Japanese  jewellery,  222 

Jasper,  304    , 

Jewish  ceremonial  rings,  266 

Joaillerie,  131 

Lacqukr  (Japanese),  222 
Lapis  lazuli,  307 
Lefebure,  123 
Lava  •'  cameos,"  343 


INDEX 


Limc^es,  29 

Luckenbooth  brooches,  170 

Lyte  jewel,  295 

Mabusb,  294 
Malachite,  307 
Mantegna,  291 
Marcasite,  345,  348 
Marquise  ring,  269,  348 
Mars  (Mile.),  159 
Massys  (Quentin),  296 
Mediaeval  brooches,  245 
Memento  mori,  170 
Memorial  rings,  270 
Merovingian  inlay,  82 
Merovingian  jewellery,  87 
Merchants'  marks,  264 
Mexican  masks,  225 
Middle  Ages,  71 
Miliano,  108 
Millefiore  glass,  34,  67 
Miniature  cases,  121 
Modem  copies  of  Etruscan  jewel- 
lery, 57 
Moncornet,  123 
Month  stones,  314 
Morse,  34 
Mosaic,  34 
Mosaic  gold,  35,  361 
Mourning  jewellery,  140 
Mycenae,  37,  55 

Nail-guards,  222 

Nash,  Beau,  276 

Natter,  327 

Necklaces,  65,  122 

Necklets,  85 

Nef  jewels,  35 

Netsuk^,  22 

Niello,  35,  77 

Nineteenth  century  jewellery,  149 

Norman  French  ornaments,  175 


Normandy  peasant  jewellery,  170 
Nouvean  youmal,  quoted,  281 
Nowche,  36 

Octahedrons,  300 
Opals,  307 

Oriental  emerald,  305 
Orient  of  pearls,  309 
Ouch,  36 

Painted  enamel,  28,  141 

Paste,  345 

Paste  (Spanish),  199 

Pastes,  312 

Pave  turquoise,  160 

Pearls,  95,  121,  217,  309 

Pearl-work,  140,  141 

Peasant  jewellery,  169 

Pendants,  122 

Penannular  brooches,  93,  233 

Penannular  pin,  36 

Pepys,  Samuel,  quoted,  276 

Peridot,  307 

Philostratus,  29 

Pierre  des  Incas,  351 

Pinchbeck,  146,  147, 155,  280,  335, 

361,  368 
Pique  work,  146,  368 
Pistrucci,  327 
Plique  4  jour  enamel,  28 
Poison  rings,  266 
Pomander,  36 
Pollaiuolo,  287 
Posy  rings,  264 
Pouget  fils,  quoted,  347 
Precious  stones,  299 
Primavera,  jewels  in  the  picture 

known  as,  286 
Prince's  metal,  361 
Provincial  jewellery,  169 
Puzzle  rings,  267 
Pyrites,  348 


INDEX 


383 


Quartz,  307 

Raspe's  catalogue  of  Tassie's  gems, 

334 
Renaissance  cameos,  324 
Renaissance  glass  gems,  332 
Renaissance  jewels,  loi 
Rentz,  365 
Repousse  work,  37 
Ring  brooches,  245 
Rings,  55,  57,  65,  66,  85,  93,  122 
Rings,  ancient,  260 
Ring  of  Ethelwulf,  261 
Rivets,  38 
Roberti,  294 
Rococo  style,  135 
Roman  brooches,  232 
Roman  glass  gems,  331 
Roman  jewellery,  61 
Roman  mosaic,  34 
Romantic  style,  252 
Rosary,  38 

Rosary  rings.     See  Decade  rings 
Rose-cut  gems,  301 
Rouen  jewellery,  179 
Rubielle  spinel,  308 
Rubies,  305 
Russian  jewellery,  199 

Saint  Espri/  jcvtels,  lyj 
Sapphires,  305 
Sard,  308 
Sardonyx,  308 
Saxony,  83 

Scandiimvian  brooches,  241 
Scandinavian  inlay,  82 
Scandinavian  jewellery,  187 
Scarabs,  57,  262,  321 
Scent-balls,  36 
Schliemann,  Dr.,  quoted,  37 
Scotch  brooches,  245 
Scotch  pearls,  309 


Seals  by  Wedgwood,  341 

Seed-pearl  work,  183 

Semaine  rings,  270 

Sergeant's  rings,  268 

Seventeenth  century  jewellery,  113 

Sevign^,  38 

Shell  cameos,  328 

Shoe  buckles,  130 

Shotwork,  38 

Signatures  on  cameos,  325 

Signet  rings,  262 

Silhouette,  M,  de,  350 

Silver  buckles,  278 

Silver  jewellery,  Indian,  215 

"  Similor,"  365 

Sirletti,  327 

Solder,  36 

Solis,  112 

Spanish  jewellery,  195 

Spinel,  308 

Stamped  details,  158 

Stamped  jewellery,  166 

Steel  jewellery,  130,  351 

Step-cut  stones,  300 

Stones  used  for  intaglios,  330 

Stonework,  113,  147 

Stonework,    seventeenth    century, 

246 
Strass,  or  Stras,  345 
Sulphur  impressions  of  gems,  335 
Sword  guards,  223 

Table-cut  stones,  300 
Talisman  rings,  268 
Tara  brooch,  237,  332 
Tassie  gems,  333 
Theophilus,  quoted,  35,  40 
Tombac,  361 
Topaz,  308 
Tore,  or  Torque,  39 
Tortoise  brooches,  241 
Tortoiseshell,  146 


384 


INDEX 


T-shaped  brooches,  232 
Tourmaline,  308 
Toyman,  131 
Trap-cut  stones,  300 
Treasure  of  Guarrazar,  86 
Treasure  of  the  Oxus,  81 
Trichinopoli  jewellery,  209 
Trichot,  355 
Triplets,  313 
Turkish  jewellery,  202 
Turquoise,  308 

Venetian  mosaic,  34 
Verre  Eglomisi,  39 
Visigothic  inlay,  87 


Visigothic  jewellery,  88 
Voyez,  336 


Watch  on  chatelaine,  146 
Waist  buckles,  282 
Wampum,  224 
Warrilow,  351 
Wedding  rings,  265-6 
Wedgwood,  130,  156,  279,  336 
Welsh  pearls,  309 
William  of  Wykeham,  94 
Wire,  39 
Wirework,  252 
Wortley,  Mr.,  277 


VNWIN  BROTHSKS,  UMITXD,  THK  ORBSHAU  PRESS,  WOKING  AKD  LONDON. 


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